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

DALLAS MAVERICKS BETTER THAN YOU THINK

Despite a solid 24-17 record, the Dallas Mavericks are still getting harped on. But to the Dallas Morning News’ Eddie Sefko, they might be doing even better than a year ago. After some fancy work with the stats, Sefko argues that Kidd’s record with the Mavericks this season - a .585 winning percentage - outpaces last year’s .552 record after Kidd was brought in. The team does remain in the playoff hunt, and the X factor remains talented, if somewhat troubled, forward Josh Howard.

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