Top 5 Active American NBA players who didn't go to college
The NBA has changed its ruling on players coming straight to the league from high school multiple times over the years. Some of the league's greats took this route, including the late Kobe Bryant and Boston Celtics legend Kevin Garnett.
However, as of 2006, the NBA's rules changed once again, making it more difficult for the country's top school talents to make the leap straight to the league. All drafted players must be 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft. If they are not international players, they must be at least one year removed from their high school graduation.
Currently, the top players will have a one-and-done year in college before declaring for the draft. Alternately, they may play abroad to build their skills in a tougher environment than college.
In this article, we will run down five of the NBA's top players who skipped college. Some of them were old enough to have declared for the draft straight out of high school while others had to take the less-beaten track to get there.
5 NBA stars who skipped college to join the league
#5 Lou Williams | Atlanta Hawks
Lou Williams has built a career on being an elite knockdown shooter off the bench and has been named NBA Sixth Man of the Year on three occasions. He played his best basketball with the LA Clippers, where he won two of his awards and averaged over 20 points and five assists per game in both campaigns.
After being traded by the franchise this season to the Atlanta Hawks, it was reported that Williams was considering retiring from the NBA. However, his teammates persuaded him to stay and ended up being instrumental in their unprecedented run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Williams was one of the country's top prospects in high school and was set to play for the University of Georgia. However, listed as the No.3 shooting guard in the nation at the time, he decided to instead declare for the 2005 NBA Draft and was picked up by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round.
#4 Darius Bazley | Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Darius Bazley took an unusual route to get to the NBA but has certainly found his footing. He averaged 13.7 points and seven rebounds per game in his sophomore campaign. The 21-year-old was rated as a five-star recruit and was a member of the West team for the 2018 McDonald's All-American Boys game.
He had indicated that he would play for Syracuse but bypassed college to play in the G-League. That plan was also scrapped as Bazley instead announced he would train on his own for the 2018-19 season and was one of the first players to be named in the 2019 NBA Draft. He was selected 23rd overall by the Utah Jazz but was then traded to OKC via the Memphis Grizzlies.