When Michael Jordan Acknowledged LeBron James Was the Only Exception to His NBA Draft Rule

The NBA established the one-and-done rule in 2005. Before that rule became law, teams had free reign on any prospects once they finished their senior season in high school. In the late 1990s, an influx of NBA teams began to draft teenagers out of high school. A few extremely talented players made the jump to the NBA, but others disappointed. Bulls legend Michael Jordan has a rule that applies to all these high school prospects, except for LeBron James.

The first high schooler selected in an NBA Draft was Darryl Dawkins in 1975. He went on to have a successful 14-year NBA career. However, this method of scouting didn’t become popularized until 1995, when the Timberwolves selected Kevin Garnett with the fifth overall pick.

Many teams began to follow suit, snagging high school draft picks like Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Amar’e Stoudemire, Dwight Howard and LeBron James. All of these players are in the Hall-of-Fame or will be soon. But this is only a small percentage of the 41 players who’ve made the drastic jump.

Over time, controversy arose about the growing list of players declaring for the draft out of high school due to the large amount of unsuccessful prospects. In a 2005 interview with Cigar Aficionado, Jordan shared his opinion about players making that jump and pointed to LeBro as an exception.

“But you’re talking about one player, LeBron James, who’s been very successful in his first two years,” Jordan said. “Kobe [Bryant], Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O’Neal—all those guys took at least three years before they adapted to what they had to do as professional basketball players.

At the time of this interview, LeBron had just wrapped up his sophomore season, averaging 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game, while finishing sixth in MVP voting. It was clear that his talents warranted his early entry into the league.

Jordan recognizes that there are other players drafted out of high school who’ve been successful. However, he states it took them a few seasons before they came into their own. Bryant averaged only 7.6 points per game in his rookie season. Garnett was only a little better at 10.4 points in his first year.

MJ’s personal rule is that prospects should spend at least one season in college to forge their physical and emotional development. There is some validity to his stance, since the main critique of most of the players drafted out of high school is their lack of maturity.

Times have changed with the growing landscape of NIL. Players have more incentive to stay in college due to the financial opportunities. Jordan’s desired route for prospects seems to be unfolding nearly 20 years following his comments.