Ever since 2005, the NBA has had a rule of players being eligible for the draft only when they are 19 years or older. This often means that players have to at least play a year of collegiate basketball or have to play a year professionally in order to be eligible for the draft.
This has led to players often applying the one-and-done, meaning they are only spending a single year in college before entering the draft. It is only a handful of players who nowadays spend at least 2-3 years and then enter the draft.
When Michael Jordan Claimed That A Player Should Be 20 Years Or Older Before Entering The NBA Draft
While the one-and-done rule might be the norm nowadays, traditionally players used to play for their collegiate teams for at least 3 years and then used to enter the NBA draft. Michael Jordan was no exception to this.
Spending 3 years with the North Carolina Tar Heels, MJ entered the draft in 1984. After stepping away from the game for good in 2003, Jordan sat for a one-on-one interview back in 2005. There, the 6-time Finals MVP spoke about a lot of things. Among them, MJ articulated why he believed that players should not enter the league before being 20 years old or older.
“I’m a firm believer that a player should be 20 years old or older before going to the pros. Anything less than that is potentially bad. You’ve got a lot of things you have to take into consideration. The lifestyle. Just the mental and physical demands of the NBA that these kids are going to be dealing with are tough. And their whole maturity level, not only for basketball but on the personal side, too, has to be taken into account.”
“If I had been a freshman or even a sophomore, no matter how good I was, I don’t know if I would have been ready for what I had to deal with in the professional ranks. But you got more and more young guys doing it. I am a firm believer that something is affected by leaving college early, or not going to college at all.”
While MJ certainly raises a fair point, over the years things have changed drastically as more and more players are showing superstar potential very early on. Moreover, the prospects who spend three-four years in college are seen as finished products and are expected to make an instant impact. Given that their skill set is already developed, they aren’t as valued as a 19-year-old prospect.
Moreover, the league might overturn its 2005 ruling and might allow the age of eligibility for the draft to 18 years in order to attract more and more talented young star talents.
