Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Jermaine O'Neal: Racism Motivating Efforts to Ban Teenagers from NBA

Indiana Pacers' All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal, who was drafted out of high school in 1996, raises an important social point when considering the desirability of banning teenagers from the NBA:

"As a black guy, you kind of think [race is] the reason why it's coming up. You don't hear about it in baseball or hockey. To say you have to be 20, 21 to get in the league, it's unconstitutional. If I can go to the U.S. Army and fight the war at 18 why can't you play basketball for 48 minutes?"
In addition to O'Neal's concerns about a ban, you might also want to take a look at my published study on the law and economics of high school players in the NBA, which, among other things, indicates that graduating high school players have proven to be the optimal age group to enter the NBA, and this outcome is the result of natural incentives/deterrences consistent with the NBA's economic system.

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