NBA ROUNDUP: 6/6 - 6/12

The Los Angeles Lakers like to win; they just don’t like to take the easy road. After letting a chance slip away to go up 3-0, the Lakers have redeemed themselves and find themselves in a position to close the series in Orlando on Sunday. Don’t expect to see that happen, since Kobe wants to win his first title without Shaq at home. Read more

DOES AGE MATTER IN THE NBA? PART 3

Over the past two days, I broke down the production of players by when they were drafted. Going a step further, I split the stories between players drafted before and after the 19-year-old limit was implemented. Here are the charts that show their performances side by side: Read more

DOES AGE MATTER IN THE NBA?

For the past three years, many pundits have questioned the NBA’s decision to impose a 19-year-old age limit on potential draftees. Supporters of the rule don’t feel those who make the preps-to-pros jump are mature enough to handle the rigors that come with being a professional, citing  Leon Smith and Ndudi Ebi as classic examples for the implementation of the limit. Many (including Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban) actually believe the age limit should be raised to 20 or 22. Critics of the rule, meanwhile, point to all the best players in the league, most of whom came straight out of high school. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, and Dwight Howard all skipped college and developed themselves into perennial MVP candidates. Read more