The NBA won’t be lowering its minimum age requirements anytime soon.
The league and the National Basketball Players Association have halted discussions of lowering the minimum age for players amid their negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Currently, American players must be 19 years old to enter the league. The NBA and NBPA have discussed lowering that to 18, which would allow players to enter the NBA draft directly after high school and end the “one-and-do” era in college basketball, in the latest CBA discussions.
But those conversations were brought up. Per Wojnarowski, neither side felt strong enough on the issue to make a change.
The NBA raised the minimum draft age to 19 in 2005. Amir Johnson was the last player to be drafted out of high school, as did Hall of Famers like LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant. Players can play for the G League Ignite team immediately after graduating from high school instead of playing in college, an option introduced in recent years.
Per Wojnarowski, NBA owners and executives were “largely indifferent” or “totally against” spotting high school players again. Since players can now get paid before making it into the league, either through G League Ignite or through NIL deals at the college level, there has been less pressure to cut life than in recent years.
The NBA and NBPA are still negotiating a new CBA and face a Friday night deadline to reach an agreement. If they don’t, the league faces the prospect of ceasing operations in July if either side opts out of the final year of the current CBA.
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