Kudos to Adam Silver, who according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst is committed to getting the NBA re-engaged with high-end basketball prospects at the high school level. There’s a lot to unwind from Windhorst’s report beyond the continued pose that the NBA age minimum will be reformed or abolished in the next couple of years. Silver seems intent on finding a way to still prevent everyone but the LeBrons of the world from jumping straight from high school into full-time NBA jobs.
The NBA is going back to high school
We have that and more in Tuesday’s NBA newsletter.
Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
The idea that the NBA could just not be involved at all with amateur players until they were 19 years old was always foolish. One of the league’s old rationales for the age minimum was that it would get NBA personnel out of high school gyms. It may have decreased the number of scouts in high school gyms, but they still swarm big AAU and sneaker company showcases to watch teenagers.
Silver’s also using the current NCAA scandal du jour to get something done. The FBI’s investigation and the immense fallout are providing a nice cover for something the league should have addressed a decade ago when its stars got dragged into miniature scandals essentially created by the NBA’s age minimum. (Ask Derrick Rose.)
This may seem needlessly cynical. But that sentiment is deserved when you remember how the league brought this era to bear.
Scores Galore ...
DET 90, CLE 112
MIL 89, IND 92
PHX 103, MIA 125
BOS 105, CHI 89
MEM 98, SAS 100
ORL 80, UTA 94
POR 108, LAL 103
... And So Much More
The Awful Eight went 0-4 on Monday. Good work, fellas. Memphis (14 straight losses!) remains worst in the league with 18 wins, and Dallas and Phoenix follow with 19 wins. Sacramento, Atlanta, Orlando, and Brooklyn all have 20 wins. Chicago has 21.
That Memphis losing streak is the seventh longest in the NBA in the past five years and the longest in the NBA this year. Memphis also has the second longest losing streak in the NBA this season at 11. Woof.
I made the argument that if LeBron James is concerned most about winning, the Lakers might actually be a better option than the salary-bloated Cavaliers. Speaking of which, the Lakers lost a very entertaining game to the Blazers because at some point the clock indicated it was DAME TIME. But the signs are really good in L.A.
The signs are even better in Portland. The Blazers are on a roll, y’all. Where’s the peak?
BEEF HISTORY is one of my favorite things in the world right now, and this edition on the INFAMOUS Jason Kidd-Jim Jackson feud is excellent.
The Hornets have expanded their GM search beyond Mitch Kupchak.
How is the Blake Griffin era going in Detroit? Detroit Bad Boys just published a piece declaring that Griffin is not Josh Smith. So ... yeah.
Tom Haberstroh wonders if the Mavericks are taking Dirk Nowitzki out of clutch situations in a direct attempt to reduce the team’s chances of winning.
TNT has a Tuesday double-header -- PLAYERS ONLY BABY -- with Rockets-Thunder (wooooo) at 8 p.m. ET and a critical Pelicans-Clippers tilt at 10:30. Full schedule here.
Be excellent to each other.
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