Silver: NBA 'ready' to abolish one-and-done rule
If NBA commissioner Adam Silver's latest comments are any indication, it's just a matter of time until the league gets rid of its controversial "one-and-done" rule, which stipulates that players must either be one year removed from high school graduation or at least 19 years of age to be eligible for the draft.
"My personal view is that we're ready to make that change," Silver said Tuesday in Las Vegas, according to the Associated Press' Tim Reynolds.
"It won’t come immediately. But when I’ve weighed the pros and cons, given that Condoleezza Rice and her commission have recommended to the NBA that those one-and-done players now come directly into the league and in essence the college community is saying, 'We do not want those players anymore,' I think that tips the scale in my mind."
The rule was instituted back in 2006, with Amir Johnson (2005) being the last player to make the jump beforehand. Other noteworthy names to have made the leap include Kevin Garnett (1995), Kobe Bryant (1996), Tracy McGrady (1997), and LeBron James (2003).
Michele Roberts, who was just re-elected for a second four-year term as executive director of the NBPA, said Tuesday she expects there to be an update on the status of the league's age limit in "the next few months," according to the Washington Post's Tim Bontemps.
A memo was reportedly sent out by the NBA last month advising the league's 30 teams that the one-and-done rule could be gone by 2021 or 2022, but no earlier.
While Silver is seemingly on board, such a move would need to be collectively agreed upon by both the players' union and NBA owners.
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