The NBA Has Plenty Of Young Talent. The Question Is What To Do With It

The NBA Has Plenty Of Young Talent. The Question Is What To Do With It.

- Ira Boudway

 Darius Bazley, who turned 18 earlier this month, is one of the best basketball players his age in the country—a 6-foot-9 forward with ball-handling skill rare for his size. Along with a few peers in the elite ranks of high school basketball, Bazley faces a peculiar problem: His talents are worth millions in the NBA, but he can’t cash in because the league bars players who aren’t at least 19 years old. Since he isn’t eligible to walk the stage at the NBA’s June 21 draft in New York, he had to consider his options.

Most kids in his shoes go to one of a handful of universities (see: Duke, Kentucky, Kansas) that have made themselves into extended-stay residences for NBA draftees-in-waiting. They play in nationally televised games, then leave after a year. All the while, the National Collegiate Athletic Association insists they’re “student athletes” who can’t be compensated beyond scholarships and modest stipends. Occasionally, top prospects go to Europe, where they play professionally for six- figure salaries.

Ultimately, Bazley chose to do neither. He backed out of a commitment to Syracuse University to go to the NBA’s minor league circuit, the G League. He’s not the first player to join the league straight from high school. Latavious Williams did it in 2009, but Williams, who never made it into an NBA game and now plays in Europe, had been deemed academically ineligible by the NCAA. Bazley is the first player to turn down scholarships in favor of the G League. “This kid’s decision was a little startling,” says Michele Roberts, executive director of the National Basketball Players Association.