David Stern received a ton of flak for allowing high school kids to declare for the NBA Draft. Many thought it was irresponsible and, to a certain extent, abusive, because the NBA was encouraging teenagers to abandon their education. There were mixed feelings about this around the league, with general managers like Stu Jackson feeling that the league was capitalizing too much on Kevin Garnett 's success.
" Kevin Garnett is fool's gold," said Jackson. "He was a once-in-a-decade player. I think, unfortunately, it's going to take the failure on the part of some of the high school players to curtail the jump."
Garnett — who attended Mauldin High School and Farragut Career Academy IB World School — was the first player in 20 years to completely skip college and head straight to the draft from high school. He was selected fifth overall in 1995 by the Minnesota Timberwolves , who were impressed by his performance during his senior year, when he averaged 25.2 points, 17.9 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 6.5 blocks per game.
Garnett also ended up inspiring the likes of Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady — two all-time great players who came after him — to take the same path, and lo and behold, it worked out for those two. However, there were also those whose careers didn't succeed because they made the jump too quickly. The likes of Kwame Brown and Eddy Curry, for example, missed the opportunity to make a name for themselves due to their lack of experience.
That's why, as early as 1996, Stern was already emphasizing that the NBA doesn't strongly encourage players to make the same jump.
"I think it becomes a personal choice," Stern said. "I think you have to know all about their situation before you counsel them on whether they should use that skill to make money or to get a college scholarship."
"From an NBA standpoint, it's better business for them to stay in school and get more experience. But it's for them and their parents to make the decision rather than all of us sanctimoniously and piously making these judgments."
As early as 1996, Stern was already certain that the league was going to do something about a prospect's draft eligibility.
Nine years later, the NBA finally made the decision that players must be at least 19 years old and one year removed from high school before they can declare for the NBA Draft. That's why most, if not all, prospects end up playing college basketball for a year or two before finding their way to the league.
These rules were agreed upon during the 2005 CBA negotiations and haven't been touched since. It's the NBA's way of making sure that they're not indirectly pressuring underage players from making harsh decisions, because, as ideal as it is to play as many years in the league and start early, not everyone can be Garnett, or LeBron James or Bryant, who eventually became legends of the game after jumping to the NBA straight from high school.
The reality is, they were exceptions.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Nov 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
