"Anything less than that is potentially bad": Michael Jordan sounded the alarm on allowing 19-year-olds in the NBA 18 years ago
Michael Jordan was not impressed with incoming NBA players being very young and barely having any experience playing college basketball. The league even agreed to increase the age eligibility of incoming players in 2005, but the Chicago Bulls legend thought that 20 years old should be the minimum age.
In an interview with Marvin R. Shanken of Cigar Aficionado in 2005, MJ was asked about his thoughts on young players in the league. He sounded the alarm for everyone to realize that the mental and physical stress of being a pro is tough on young people.
"I'm a firm believer that a player should be 20 years old or older before going to the pros," Jordan said. "Anything less than that is potentially bad. You've got a lot of things you have to take into consideration. The lifestyle, just the mental and physical demands of the NBA that these kids are going to be dealing with are tough.
"And their whole maturity level, not only for basketball but on the personal side, too, has to be taken into account. If I had been a freshman or even a sophomore, no matter how good I was, I don't know if I would have been ready for what I had to deal with in the professional ranks."
Michael Jordan entered the league with three years of college basketball. Jordan was more than ready when he arrived in the NBA in 1984. He quickly became a must-watch player and turned into one of the best in the league.
However, the same can't be said for the young players at the time. Only a handful of high school players became successful NBA players, like Shawn Kemp, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal, Tracy McGrady, Amar'e Stoudemire, LeBron James and Dwight Howard.
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Michael Jordan's history of draft picks
Michael Jordan might have a point about young players having problems adjusting to the NBA. However, Jordan's history of draft picks over the years is not the best, while most of his selections have multiple years of college basketball on their resumes.
MJ only took a handful of freshmen during his tenure as owner, like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Noah Vonleh and Malik Monk. Kemba Walker was a junior when he was drafted, and he turned out great for the Charlotte Hornets.
Alas, players like Cody Zeller, Frank Kaminsky and James Bouknight didn't pan out as expected.
LaMelo Ball had experience overseas when the Hornets drafted him third in 2020. With Jordan out as majority owner now, Charlotte could have a chance to rebuild their team in the next few years.
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