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There has been a long standing debate on the age limit set by the NBA, and the effectiveness of why it was instituted in the first place.
The age limit prevents players from joining the NBA until the age of 19.
To work around this, players usually play in college for one year, before declaring for the NBA Draft, but none are able to jump directly from high school like we've seen in the past.
While some of the best players the game has seen in the last 20 years have come straight from high school, David Stern (acting commissioner at the time) felt it still wasn't very beneficial to the league and the young players themselves.
Current NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke with Bloomberg regarding upcoming CBA negotiations, and spoke about the age limit question.
While Silver didn't dismiss the rule as unnecessary, he did seem to soften his stance on the longevity of it.
It’s still something I care a lot about. I’m also a realist. Given that Michele [Roberts] has said her preference would be for an 18-year-old minimum age, my sense is that it’s not something that’s going to change in the short term. And by the way, I’ve always said I understand the other side of the issue, about a young man’s opportunity to make a living. But my view has always been that we’d be a better league if players came into the draft at 20 instead of 19.
This is one of the things the NBA Players Association will fight to be changed in the upcoming negotiations, but it may take a little bit longer before they can have it changed the way they envision it.
The commissioner is slowly softening on the rule, but as it stands, the age limit remains a wishlist item more than a priority need.
To put it plainly, it's just not important enough at this very moment, to jeopardize another possible lockout
