NBA AGE REQUIREMENT-HOWSER v. UNITED STATES 

This past year the NBA instituted a rule requiring the minimum age a player can be drafted to 19 years of age and added a stipulation that a player must attend college for at least one year before being eligible to play in the league.  

This new requirement established by David Stern and the NBA is in direct violation of employment laws established by the United States Supreme Court in 1989, by a 6-3 vote in Howser v. United States.  For those of you unfamiliar with the landmark decision, the case involved a talented young medical student by the name of Doug "Doogie" Howser who was denied employment at the hospital near his home because of his age.  Although Howser graduated from the Princeton Medical School and passed the medical boards, he was deemed too young by Dr. Alvin Garrett to work at the hospital.  

Howser sued the Eastman Medical Center claiming that a person's right to employment is not age specific, but is specific only to the individual's right to "effectively do the job at hand regardless of the age of the professional."  He took his case to the Supreme Court after losing his case in state court.  In a scathing opinion, Justice Byron White, who was known as "Whizzer" when he played football for the University of Colorado, writing for the majority, emphasized that, "the case before us is not about age at all, but is about the right of an individual to participate in his chosen profession after meeting all of the requirements of the profession.  Dr. Howser is not a typical 14-year old boy.  Dr. Howser graduated from secondary school at the age of 5, graduated college at 9, and the Princeton Medical School at the age of 13.  His age is of no consequence in this matter.  What is of consequence is his ability to execute the duties of a doctor. By graduating from medical school and passing the board exam requirements that every doctor must pass, he is indeed qualified and should not be denied employment at any hospital in the United States of America." 

Writing for the minority was Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who was 65-years of age at the time. Justice Rehnquist used his age, and health issues associated with people his age, in his dissenting opinion:  "Age is absolutely an issue in this case.  I'm not certain that a physician as young as Mr. Howser has the emotional maturity to deal with certain delicate health screens such as pap smears and prostate exams.  Additionally, it may very well be a physical issue.  One must ask the following questions:  Are Mr. Howser's fingers long enough to properly execute a prostate exam, and if so, can he conduct the exam without giggling like a child?  I think we, as Justices, must make certain that our citizens receive giggle-free medical care; the giggle-free care that only physicians over the age of 25 can provide. "  

 The NBA needs to brace for what is now known in employment law circles as a "Doogie Challenge."  Currently, less than 4% of the league is comprised of players who come directly from the high school ranks. This is a small number of players.  In today's NBA, players can enter the draft without an agent to test their projected value and then go to college, or back to their original college, without being penalized.  In addition to this safeguard, NBA general managers are reluctant to draft kids out of high school unless they are convinced they can be players in the league, and in almost every instance, teams drafting kids out of high school have made the commitment to help them mature both on and off the court.  They get more attention as players and people than do guys who have played in college for 4 years and who may also lack the maturity that comes with being a young millionaire.  The evidence is clear that the kids drafted out of high school in the last 10 years are solid players and solid citizens.  

There are no laws prohibiting kids from dropping out of high school to work at McDonald's, and there are no laws preventing 18-year old kids from joining the military. Why is it that our society has a problem with African-American teenagers playing pro basketball and 14-year old physicians treating patients in hospitals, and no real intellectual difficulty in allowing high school dropouts to make french-fries or become 18-year old cannon fodder?  Why is it that a McDonald's All-American cannot seek immediate employment in the NBA, but a high school dropout can get immediate employment at a McDonald's?   

Business owners should be elated when young African-Americans enter the NBA with multi-million dollar contracts and the remarkable purchasing power that comes with NBA money.  As a hypothetical, let's assume that the Portland Trail Blazers are allowed to draft a high school phenom this year as a top 5 pick in the draft.  The kid signs a contract worth $25 million over a 5 year period.  With the help of a smart accountant, the kid could conceivably take home nearly $3 million per year after taxes.  This will allow the kid to purchase a million-dollar home which will need to be furnished, putting thousands of dollars in the pockets of those involved with the real estate and home furnishing industries.  This kid will also be in the market for big-screen televisions, stereo equipment, CDs, video games, automobiles, clothes, jewelry and other big-ticket items.  He will also spend money at restaurants, night clubs, movie theaters and video stores.  This hypothetical kid becomes a money-making and money-spending machine.  The local economy will thrive because of his ability to play in the NBA right out of high school.   

Now, let's examine the life of a high school dropout working at a Portland McDonald's.  This kid, working a typical 40 hour week, will make approximately $15,080 a year which is just above the poverty line set for Oregon residents.  This kid will be forced to live in an apartment complex that may be subsidized, in part, with federal and state tax money to assist residents with various physical, mental and financial limitations. He will have to choose between buying a bus pass or a bicycle at a garage sale; he will have to choose between renting a video (assuming he has a television) and buying or renting a video game (assuming he has the equipment to play a video game); and, he won't be in the market to spend money on automobiles, jewelry or any other big-ticket items.  Taking a date to a restaurant or a night club will be out of the question, and because movie tickets are about $8 a person, this kid may be able to afford to go to the movies just once or twice a month.  After a few years of extreme poverty this kid may decide to get a GED and qualify for financial aid provided through tax money to go to college.  Or this kid may decide to burglarize homes, get caught and spend time in an Oregon prison, which is also paid for by taxpayers.   

To those people who think kids need to play college basketball at least one year before entering the NBA, or need to be able to use a Norelco at least once a week before becoming paid physicians, I offer up a Kobe Bryant-Doogie Howser comparison to lawyers interested in taking on the NBA with a "Doogie Challenge."  As I illustrate in this comparison, both Kobe and Howser have had some difficulties, but these difficulties manifested many years after they were in their chosen profession: 

Rookie Years:  Kobe plays in a total of 71 games with the Lakers, starting in 6 contests.  He averages 7.6 points a game in a learning year.  Kobe notices that many guys on the team drink, but he devotes his life to the game of basketball and shuns underage drinking.  He briefly thinks that a trade to another team may be beneficial to his career. 

Dr. Howser moves away from home during his rookie year and confronts issues like underage beer drinking.  Dr. Howser, like Kobe, is in a learning mode at the hospital and his most serious operation is an appendectomy. He flirts with the idea of leaving the hospital for a pediatrics group.   

Years 2-6:  Bryant becomes the youngest player to play in an NBA All-Star game at age 19 and becomes an All-Star game fixture after his debut.  He wins his first NBA championship at the age of 21, and realizes that basketball is a business and not everyone plays for the love of the game.  He seeks outwardly in his life for the first time and questions his genius on the basketball court.  He helps the Lakers win 3 consecutive championships during this time frame and marries Vanessa Lane in 2001. Howser, during this period in his career, is confused when his hospital turns away the poor and the homeless for paying customers. Howser realizes medicine is a business.  Unlike Bryant, however, he is of the belief that winning isn't everything if winning is about greed.  He begins to ask himself if his genius is a blessing or a curse and seeks life answers outside the world of medicine. 

Years 7-10:  This is the point in time where Bryant and Howser take different paths in their careers and in their lives.  Bryant, while questioning both his gift and Lakers' management, has a period of turmoil professionally and personally.  He is accused of sexual assault and his feud with Shaquille O'Neal and Phil Jackson leads to O'Neal being traded to Miami and Jackson without a job.  The case against Bryant is dropped, he makes up with both O'Neal and Jackson and encourages Jackson to again coach the Lakers.  Bryant responded this year by leading the Lakers to the playoffs averaging over 35 points a game.  The turmoil he experienced on and off the court happened well after he was drafted straight out of high school.  Howser continues the status-quo at the hospital and does not have a Kobe blowup.  He also remains immune from prosecutors, since he is not accused of sexual assault.  In fact, Howser remains a virgin, but has a serious thing for an old baby-sitter and several other women.  

It's surprising that the NBA minimum draft age debate gets more attention than does the high school dropout issue, especially with the league's "Be Cool, Stay in School" message, and even more surprising is that most people agree with the NBA's decision to deny employment to qualified players.  One would think Americans would champion achievement and allow the best of the best to play with the best under any circumstance. But it appears a teenager's place - when his only real skill out of high school is on the basketball court -is in a fast-food kitchen behind the fry-cooker.