Jumping from High School to the NBA Essay - 1342 Words

Jumping from High School to the NBA Ever since Kevin Garnett, a teenager who by-passed college, was drafted as the fifth overall pick in the 1995 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft, more and more high school teenagers have been making the jump straight to the pros. Since the league draft of 1995, 17 first round picks have been high school players. This means that about 7 percent of first round draft picks in the NBA have been high school teens skipping out on their college education to make the jump to the NBA (Chylinski). Basketball players entering the draft out of high school have been on the minds of NBA Commissioner David Stern and basketball fans across the world for the past few years. For several years, Stern has†¦show more content†¦The type of impact players from high school have had on the game has been mixed. The likes of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Amare Stoudamire, and Jermaine O’Neal are setting the tone across the nation for high schoolers considering by-passing college for the NBA. Two of today’s biggest stars, Garnett and Bryant, have never attended college, but both were immediately successful and popular in the pros (Head to Head). The biggest star in the NBA right now, Garnett, is having an MVP-caliber season and is leading his team to their best record in franchise history. The teenagers with high hopes admire these professionals living their dream and hope to someday be in their shoes. Lebron James, the first pick taken in this year’s draft, may be the prototype for an athlete having immediate fame and wealth by jumping straight to the NBA. Almost undoubtedly, he has set the bar for years to come. Before he even played in an actual NBA game, he already had his own commercial and shoe deals. When he was a senior in high school, ESPN and ESPN2 were already publicizing his regular season games whenever they had the chance. Amazingly, as a junior in high school, he was already being considered the next Michael Jordan (Broussard). The fame of Sebastian Telfair, regarded by some as the top young high school point guard in America this year, has been growing since he was 15. He will most likely enter the NBAShow MoreRelatedCollege Is A Waste Of Time For Athletes1616 Words   |  7 Pages(Gregorian and Wishart). It is understandable that with a busy student athlete schedule getting all Cs or higher in school is a challenge, but the benefits of graduating college before going to the NBA outweigh the positives of skipping college and going straight to the pros. High School stars do not oftem look into the advantages college provides, which is a huge mistake. 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