New Age Limit for NBA Draftees?

An Internet report caused a bit of a stir with a report that the NBA would be announcing a new age limit for players seeking to enter the NBA draft. The report, since clarified, stated that NBA commissioner David Stern would be announcing a new 20-year age minimum for players entering the draft. The revised "party line" is that both Stern and NCAA head Myles Brand would like to see the age limit pushed to 20 years or two years of college, but that such a change would need to be decided with the NBA Players Association -- most likely as part of negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement.

The NBA's current CBA runs through the 2010-2011 season.

Under the current rules, implemented in 2006, players must be 19 years old to be eligible for the NBA draft. Those in favor of age limits say the ban on high schoolers entering the draft has improved the quality of the NBA game and helped the college game by forcing players like Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose to play a year of NCAA ball. But many critics consider the rule to be something of a farce, saying that it only really requires star players to remain academically eligible for a single semester of college.