NBA Commissioner Endorses Lowering Draft Age Limit

The opportunity to play in the NBA could come earlier for aspiring athletes as NBA commissioner Adam Silver endorsed lowering the league’s age limit for draft applicants.

Currently, a player must be at least 19 years old before he could join the draft, but Silver is open to lowering the limit to 18.

It was in 2005 when the limit was switched from 18 to 19 after many players, including Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and LeBron James, joined the NBA straight from high school.

Due to the influx of high school players joining the NBA, then-commissioner David Stern raised the age limit to 19.

Silver said reverting to the old limit “is the right thing to do.”

"I think there's an opportunity [to change it]. It’s [based on] larger conversations than just whether we go from 19 to 18, but I'm on record: When I balance all of these various considerations, I think that would be the right thing to do and I am hopeful that that's a change we make in this next collective bargaining cycle, which will happen in the next couple years,” Silver said as quoted by ESPN.

The subject was discussed following the league's board of governors meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Silver believes allowing players as young as 18 to join the NBA will contribute to their development both on and off of the court.

"It may be the case that it's in all of our interests that we start impacting with these young players, especially because in our sport they are identified at such a young age," he stated.

"And begin working with them on their development then, not just basketball skills but increasingly there's a focus on their mental health, their diets, just helping them build character and all of the important values around the sport."