Testing the On-Court Efficacy of the NBA's Age Eligibility Rule
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Ryan Rodenberg
The NBA’s age eligibility rule is controversial. To examine the on-court efficacy of the NBA’s age eligibility rule, we test the effect of age of entry on NBA career performance. Our data set comprises the 332 players selected in the first round of the NBA draft from 1989 to 2000. Using censored normal regression models, we found that players drafted at a relatively younger age have more successful NBA careers across three different metrics. To explore a beneficial effect of one year in college, group selection bias tests were conducted by comparing differences in career success between “one and done” players and players who entered the NBA straight out of high school. The results were consistent with our main analyses – players who moved into the NBA directly from high school generally perform better than players with a single year of college experience. We find no systematic evidence in support of the on-court efficacy of the NBA’s age eligibility rule.
©2012 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- The Dreaded Middle Seeds - Are They the Worst Seeds in the NCAA Basketball Tournament?
- Playing Success and Local Market Size in Spanish Football League: Can Small Cities Dream of Winning Teams?
- Comparing and Forecasting Performances in Different Events of Athletics Using a Probabilistic Model
- Robust Rankings for College Football
- Variations in Home Advantage: Evidence from the National Hockey League
- Conference Paper
- Testing the On-Court Efficacy of the NBA's Age Eligibility Rule
- Using Conditional Estimates to Simulate In-Play Outcomes in Limited Overs Cricket
- Parsing the Relationship between Baserunning and Batting Abilities within Lineups
