“Cooper Flagg Didn’t Need to Go to College”: Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce Discuss Reopening the NBA to High School Kids

The NBA stopped allowing high school graduates to enter the NBA Draft after a negotiation with the Players’ Association in 2006. Every CBA since then has upheld a minimum age limit of 19. That has forced players to remain at least one year in college before being considered for the Draft. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce do not quite agree with this age restriction.

The duo advocated for this rule to be changed using Cooper Flagg as an example.

Garnett was among the first players in the modern NBA to join the league immediately after high school. He believes that it’s high time Commissioner Adam Silver reversed this rule since so many high school kids are showing NBA potential. Going to college is actually setting them back in their careers, feels KG.

“The argument was said that some guys probably couldn’t play straight out of high school, right, not the case today. Some of these kids I’m watching now, I’m like, ‘No, they don’t need to go to college,’” KG said on The Ticket and The Truth podcast.

Flagg will be spending his next year playing for Duke University. But he could’ve made it to the NBA, had he been allowed, according to Pierce.

“Cooper Flagg didn’t need to go to college,” said Pierce.

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Tracy McGrady, and Dwight Howard are other examples who followed KG’s steps (Garnett was drafted in 1995), skipped college, and joined the league. Each of these players had an illustrious NBA career and an instant impact, proving that players out of high school do have what it takes.

The main argument for barring high schoolers was that they were too immature to handle professional contracts. But college ballers are already seeing a lot of money, thanks to their NIL deals.

KG and Pierce argued that there is no logical justification behind this rule since 18-year-olds can join the workforce in any other field. So basketball shouldn’t be  different.

It’s noteworthy here that European leagues have no such age restriction on players. This helps franchises develop talented players through more experience in high level competition.

The only reason the NBA still promotes this rule is to give the teams ample opportunity to vet talents. College tapes give franchises and scouts more sample size to reach a decision. This ensures their money is not wasted on players who are not cut for NBA basketball.

However, this actually hurts, or delays the coming of age of top talents like Flagg.