Nba Age Limit.

I want to explore is the notion that players actually benefit from going to college as players. Does going to college make you a better NBA player?  Are players with more college experience better represented in the games elite?  I went through the last 11 seasons including this one to see who's making the All Star Team, and who's making the All NBA team, I also checked to see who's winning the MVP.



Starting from the 02-03 season: MVP: Tim Duncan who played 4 years of college ball. So far so good we have one of the greatest PF's to ever play the game. For the record he also won MVP the year before.

Of the 26 players who were selected All Stars 7 players never attended college, Tracy McGrady, Jermain O'Neal, Kobe Bryant we all both All Stars and All NBA selections.

 3 players only went to school one year Steve Francis, Stephon Marbury most notably. 6 went to school for 2 years. 5 went to school for 3 years. 4 went to school for the full four years. It should be noted that of the 4 four year players one of them was Ben Wallace who went undrafted.

Of the All NBA team 5 never went to college. 4 of the 5 who never played college ball were All NBA 1st Team. 1 went to school for one year. 4 went to school for 2 years. 3 players went to school for three years.  2 went to school for four years. One of who is the undrafted Ben Wallace.  The other being Tim Duncan.

03-04 Season: MVP: Kevin Garnet who never played a day of college ball. Also one of the greatest PF's to ever play the game.

Of the 21 players selected to the All Star Team 7 never attended college. 1 attended for a single year. 5 attended for two years. 5 attended for 3 years. 3 attended for the full 4 years. Again Ben Wallace was one of the 4 year players selected.

Of the All NBA team 7 never went to college. 4 attended for 2 years. 1 attended for 3 years. 3 attended for 4.  Of the 7 All NBA performers who never played college ball, 3 of them were All NBA 1st team.

04-05 Season: MVP: Steve Nash who attended college for 3 years.

Of the 23 players selected to the All Star Team 11 never attended college. 4 went to school for 2 years. 6 went to school for 3 years. 3 went to school for 4 years. Once again one of those 4 year players was Ben Wallace. Tim Duncan and Grant Hill being the others.

Of the All NBA team 6 never went to college. Dirk was the only one to make 1st team. 4 players attended for 2 years. Allen Iverson, Gilbert Arenas, Dr. Shaq, and Shawn Marion. 3 attended for 3 years. Steve Nash, D. Wade and Jesus Shuttlesworth. 2 attended for 4 years. 

05-06 Season: MVP: Steve Nash. 3 years of College.

Of the 25 players selected to the All Star Team 9 never attended college. 1 attended for 1 year. 8 attended for 2 years. 6 attended for 3 years. 1 attended for the full 4 years.

Of the All NBA team 5 never attended college. Lebron, Kobe, Yao, Dirk, T-Mac and KG. 1 attended for a single year. 5 attended for 2 years. 6 attended for 3 years. 2 attended for 4 years.



06-07 Season: MVP Dirk Nowitzki. Never played college ball. Was a pro overseas before entering the NBA Draft.

Of the 24 players selected to the All Star Team 10 never attended college. 2 attended college 1 year. 6 attended college 2 years. 4 attended 3 years. 2 attended 4 years.

All NBA Teams that year featured 9 players who never played a day of college ball. More the half of the 15 top players. Tim Duncan being the lone 4 year man that season.

07-08 Season: MVP Kobe Bean Bryant.

Only 6 of the 22 players selected to the All Star Team played 0 college ball.  But 9 of the 15 All NBA slots went to them. Go figure.



08-09 Season: MVP Lebron James.

11 of 21 All Star selections never played college ball. 

Of the 15 All NBA players 7 never played college ball.

09-10 Season: MVP Lebron James.

6 of the All Star Selections never played college ball. Another 6 were one and doners. Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose most notably because they only went to college because they had to because of the current age limit. David Lee was the lone All Star to have attended college 4 years.

6 of the 15 All NBA players played 0 college ball. KD and Rose are the 2 one year players to make it. Brandon Roy was the other All NBA player besides Tim Duncan to have attended 4 years in college.

10-11 Season: MVP Derrick Rose. As discussed he was a so called one and doner who likely wouldn't have attended college at all if he wasn't compelled to.

9 of the All Star Selections never played college ball. 5 only played for one year. Tim Duncan was the sole All Star to have played 4 years of college ball.

7 of the 15 All NBA players never played college ball. 3 played 1 year of college ball. None played 4 years of college ball. Dwayne Wade and All Horford were the only 2 to have played 3 years of college ball.



11-12 Season. MVP likely to be Lebron James.

7 of the All Star selections never played college ball. 6 only attended 1 year. Roy Hibbert was the only All Star to have played 4 years of college ball. Although he almost didn't.

The All NBA Teams haven't been announced as of the time I publish this.

As you can see, players who never played college ball, whether they came to the NBA straight from High School, or from over seas, are well represented at the highest level of the game. In fact it is the elite NBA player who played 3-4 years of college ball that is increasingly scarce over the past decade. There is no evidence that players who play college ball are any more successful at the NBA level than players who don't.

There is no basketball reason for there to be an age limit at all in the NBA let alone raising it.