Most athletes have the dream of making it to the professional level, spending countless hours of effort and training to get better and better each day. With the addition of One-and-Done, this dream is seemingly achievable sooner now than ever. However, the drawbacks of One-and-Done severely outweigh its benefits.
According to Yale Law School, the NBA’s One-and-Done Rule states players must be 19 years old and have had one year since their high school graduation in order to enter the NBA draft. Many talented high school basketball players go on to play for one year of college to gain more attention and display their abilities against higher levels of competition to then declare for the draft and hopefully be selected by an NBA team after.
However, the One-and-Done rule is unreliable for young basketball players, and they should be required to wait four years after high school graduation, assuming most will attend college, before being able to declare for the draft.
Is there any advantage in that one year, though? Currently, the benefits are that players get one fourth of their way to a degree, which is better than nothing, and basketball players have the opportunity to make money professionally after one year of collegiate basketball, while athletes in other sports have to wait at least three years to make money off their talents at the professional level. However, a portion of a college degree isn’t beneficial for life after basketball and many athletes are able to make a comfortable living through Name Image and Likeness.
While basketball players may want to skip a full collegiate career to capitalize off of a professional salary, with the addition of NIL to college sports, athletes can make money off their talent, brands or following while in college. This eliminates players from feeling like they must play professionally in order to make millions of dollars. According to the On3 website, current Duke University guard Cooper Flagg has a NIL valuation of $4.2 million after just playing at a collegiate level for one year.
However, according to Sports Illustrated, after declaring for the NBA draft, the rookie minimum a player can make is $1,157,000, which is significantly less than Flagg is making in college. Some players that aren’t projected to be high draft picks, or picked at all, can still earn millions of dollars. For example, Purdue University junior Braden Smith, is estimated to make $1.9 million this year from NIL, according to the On3 website.
Advocates argue that college players are student-athletes and are there primarily to get a degree. However, a player going to college for one year is not going for a degree; they’re only going because skipping out on an education yields a much higher chance of going pro and staying ahead of competition. These beliefs are challenged by recent NBA stars that have spent all four years in college, such as Steve Nash, Grant Hill and Tim Duncan.
While requiring basketball players to attend four years of college reaps many benefits, arguably some of the best players in the world, like Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic, were able to enter the NBA draft after playing in the European leagueswithout attending college. However, international players are an exception because they may not have access to play in an American university at all and are missing out on the higher level of education that those who attend college have.
The One-and-Done rule poorly walks the line between high school, college and the pros. In this new era of college sports, college basketball must adapt to the changing landscape. The NBA should require players to play four years of college basketball as it allows the player to learn skills for after their playing career, receive money from NIL and earn a four year college degree.
