Since the 2006 NBA Draft, basketball players of any nationality who complete athletic eligibility at a U.S. high school cannot declare themselves eligible for the draft unless they turn 19 no later than December 31 of the year of the draft and are at least one year removed from the graduation of their high school classes.
International players, defined in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement as non-US nationals who did not complete athletic eligibility at a U.S. high school, must turn 19 or older in the calendar year of the draft, up from 18.
Since top flight high school basketball seniors have not been able to enter the NBA, some have bided their time for a year in college and become “one-and-done”.
Highly touted high school senior Jalen Green is going against the grain of attending college for a year by joining the NBA and G League’s development program for the 2020-21 basketball season.
The decision by those young people and their families is understandable considering a six figure contract is hard to turn down straight out of high school and especially if it can lead to millions of dollars two years later should those young people be chosen in the first round of the NBA Draft.
