This week, the argument surrounding the one and done rule just became a bit more heated.
On this Wednesday, February 20th, one of the top players and who many assume will be the first pick in the NBA draft, got injured during his game versus North Carolina. After the first 30 seconds of a nationally televised game, Zion Williamson turned to make a cut, his shoe burst open, and he sprained his knee.
For most players, this would simply be seen as a “day to day” injury, but for someone as famous as Zion Williamson, the news spread across the country and it spurned into a new category of the one and done argument. With a constant risk of injury in the NCAA, should players have to endure one year?
After seeing Zion injured, various players and analysts from the NBA spoke up on their opinions about this ruling. One player, Isaiah Thomas, tweeted “Let these kids go straight out of HS!!! Too much on the line to be messing with college if you got a legit chance to turn pro. One injury can change somebody’s career.” With the almost inevitable future of going pro for Zion, this injury could have ruined his chances. And if not Zion, possibly others that are forced to attend college for one year before turning pro.
However, I guess this event involving possibly the best prospect since Lebron James, officially became the breaking point for the NBA.
Just today, the NBA released that they plan to lower the draft age to 18 years old, rather than 19, effectively allowing players to enter the league right after high school. The league has sent a proposal to the National Basketball Players Association and the players’ union discussed the possible change at a meeting earlier this week.
People within the association hope this will be implemented by the 2022 draft. Although this news was not released publicly, individuals close to the association confirmed it.
To the players, this is obviously a positive change in events. Players have been in support of shifting the rule to allow players to enter the draft directly after high school since the rule was created in 2005.
Those within the league’s association state that the incident with Zion did not have anything to do with their ruling and that the timing was more of a coincidence. However, it’s hard not to believe that the effects of this did not at least cross their minds when discussing. The fact that these players are subject to possible injuries while participating in one year of college basketball has been a huge argument against the one and done rule for years. A name that could be the new face of the NBA being the one this time is a huge motivation to change.
Despite the drastic change in ruling, the specifics behind are it are still a bit cloudy. Those that believe in the one and done rule, or even more years of schooling, are not behind it, and it could cause even more argument in the future.
https://www.businessinsider.com/zion-williamson-injury-nba-draft-college-rules-2019-2
I think this a great addition to your blog! I really liked how you were able to bring in current events and I know this was a big topic in the news this week. I think it is interesting how current this issue is and how it really effects players who are playing today. The issue with this injury is that it was such a fluke play (how many people are strong enough to break their shoe and injured themselves in that way). I think it would be interesting to look at other fluke injuries and see if they happen more in college or in the NBA relative to the number of players in both leagues.
I also am interesting in the decision that will be released by the NBA regarding the age of players allowed to enter the draft. I wonder if how the NBA feels about this issue because it may increase competition in the league in terms of older players making a team as opposed to an 18 year old.
What about college programs as well? I would think that taking the best players out of college programs may decrease the competitiveness and excitement of college games. For example, would Duke be the same team without Zion Williamson? It would be interesting to see the team without the players who would have forgone this year and gone straight to the professional league. I am interested in how this plays out, and am looking forward to your next post.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2822152-coach-k-no-discussion-of-shutting-down-zion-williamson-after-knee-injury