It might lead to restrictions on draft eligibility to eliminate players from leaving college early and from entering the draft straight out of high school. NBA commissioner David Stern has toyed with such a restriction ever since Garnett's decision to enter the draft six years ago. His argument is that the arrival of inexperienced teenagers in the NBA has hurt the game, as teams have been forced to develop unrefined players who struggle in their inaugural seasons. People just don't understand the position these athletes are in. The perspective seems especially distorted here at Cal Poly, perhaps because students value the importance of education and of getting a degree, which is certainly a worthwhile aspiration.
Athletes have very short shelf lives.
A blown-out knee or freak accident can ruin an athlete's career in a flash, eliminating them from a very lucrative profession. In addition, few NBA players are able to play in the league by their mid-30s, and arriving on the scene as a teenager offers a player a few more years to make money playing the game they love. Many athletes come from impoverished families, and the NBA offers them an opportunity to ease their family's financial woes. The NBA, the NCAA and their fans can't complain when players make the early jump to professional basketball. If the players weren't good enough, they wouldn't be drafted so high, as Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry surely will.