It seems like the NBA is going to exterminate the One-and-Done rule

After an incident in the Duke vs UNC basketball game where Zion Williamson got injured after his shoe suddenly split open creating a massive hole in it, he sat out for the 5 games with a sprained left ankle. If it had been a major injury, Zion could have been dropped from 1st pick to the 10th. That would be the difference of millions of dollars. On the other hand, if he had already been in the NBA right now he would have already been secured that contract. The only reason he is not already making money is because of the NBA’s age requirement, but the good thing is that the NBA is considering to apply the One-And-Done rule in the 2022 NBA draft.

Some NBA players have given their opinions about the rule such as Jayson Tatum who stated, “I think it’s a good idea. If you’re good enough to come out of high school, I feel like you should be able to.” Tatum went to the NBA after one season at Duke.

Players and coaches agree. “If they’re out of high school and they can go directly to the NBA and be drafted and get millions of dollars from the NBA, I’m for it 100 percent,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. In his first nine years at Kentucky, Calipari coached 23 one-and-done NBA draft picks. This is by far the most of any program in that span.

NCAA players are also not getting paid a single penny for their contribution to the team. All of the money earned is going straight to the school and not the players. Every college game is really expensive to host and because of this, the school makes a lot of money. The cheapest ticket for the UNC vs Duke game was $2,500 USD. Even the NBA finals don’t cost as much. With gaining immense amounts of money, the school doesn’t give any of it to the players which is completely unfair to the players. This is also one of the reasons why the NBA wants to change their age requirement. If the best players were in the NBA right it wouldn’t matter as much because they would have made the money they deserve.

Although the rule has been in the talks for years now, this past month the NBA has officially requested the change and it is possibly one of the best choices they have done. The rule has been established in 2006 but has not been applied yet, there were many occasions where the NBA was about to apply it but haven’t.

Journalism professor Kevin Blackistone has said about the “one-and-done” rule, “I think it’s completely un-American.” He finds the whole concept absurd. “Can you imagine you or I being offered an opportunity to work in the profession that we work in, getting ready to come out of high school and having to turn it down, not because we’re not good enough but just because we’re not of age or haven’t been in a journalism college or communications school for a year?”

The NBA and the players association seem to agree, giving current high school freshmen and juniors reason to be excited.