<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">San Antonio --- Players under 19 need no longer apply to the NBA. College coaches can start thinking about those blue chippers again. And players with less than two years experience could be sent to the league's version of the minors, the NBDL, for skills development. A minimum age limit of 19 and the formal creation of a pro basketball minor league were two of the major points in a new collective bargaining agreement tentatively agreed upon by NBA owners and players Tuesday. And young stars will not be draft eligible until their class is one year removed from high school. So there will be no NBA lockout, now that both sides have agreed to replace the seven-year agreement that expires June 30. Commissioner David Stern and union chief Billy Hunter announced the new deal at a news conference before Game 6 of the NBA Finals at SBC Center. The new deal must be ratified by the league's Board of Governors and by the members of the players' union at their annual meeting in Las Vegas next week. But it appears a crisis has been averted after both sides issued doomsday warnings in the past week. "I think we struck a deal that's going to be extremely good for our players," Hunter said. "We'll be extremely well taken care of over the next six years or so, and it will also help enhance the overall stability and growth of this league." Stern described the new agreement as a "50/50" deal. "Half of it went our way and half of it went their way," he said. "We knew that's what we had to get to. . . . We both got encouraged to sit down and try to avoid the Apocalypse that we were both describing.</div> Source
I completely favor the age limit. Time to clean up the league. Get some real players coming in who've played against similar size, competetion and talents.
