NBA Age Limit Racist?

So Jermaine O'neal thinks an NBA age limit is racist? He points out that baseball and hockey draft kids right out of high school, and those kids are mostly white (well, I'll give him hockey).

O'neal should have some say in the matter, he came out of high school in 96 (and was drafted by Portland). But he didn't play meaningful minutes until 4 years later when he was traded to Indiana. So of course he's all about high school kids going pro, he did it, sat on the bench for four year, made a shit load of money, and then finally started to produce for a team that didn't draft him.

And as for racism, Reggie Miller (O'neal's teammate) was on the Daily Show talking about how he thinks the age limit would be a good idea for the league. So I don't think the NBA having an age limit is a race thing, I think it's a good basketball thing. And the NBA is a basketball league, so if an age limit makes for better basketball, then the NBA should have a right to do it. O'neal couldn't play for four years anyway, it's basically the Pacers drafted him out of four years at college (that the Blazers paid for).

And as for Jermaine's 'unconstintuional' quote, if we get to make fun of actors who bitch about world events, then atheletes who never stepped foot on a college campus should get the same deal. O'neal seems to be a nice guy, but I don't think he has any idea what he's talking about.

Sure you can be drafted for the army at 18 but you can't play in the NFL (or possibly the NBA). The leagues are a private business, and if they think having an age limit will improve their product, and if the players union agrees to it, I think it's a good thing. And I don't think it's unconstitutional.

Oh, and part of the reason why baseball and hockey don't get the crap that the NBA does is because they have a minor league system that doesn't suck ass (sorry NBDL). These kids who are drafted get a chance to mature and grow and THEN make the majors. They get game experience (usually out of the view of the parents team city) so we don't see these millioanaire high school kids sitting on the bench not producing.