The NBA Draft is an institution within American sport and it also captures the interest of basketball fans all around the world, every single year.
All 30 of the franchises in the NBA take part and the principal purpose is that they get to select new players to join their team.
So soon after seeing the Denver Nuggets win the championship final against the Miami Heat, with Nikola Jokic at the center of it all, the attention quickly turns to the youngsters trying to make it big in the sport.
What are the NBA Draft eligibility rules?
There have been lots of rule changes over the years when it comes to the eligibility of players for the NBA Draft.
There are really two primary rules when it comes to the eligibility of players in the NBA draft and they are as follows:
- All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft.
- Any player who is not an “international player”, as defined in the CBA, must be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class.
There are some players who have automatic eligibility. Players whose 19th birthday is during or before the calendar year of the draft, or at least one year removed from the graduation of their high school class, and who don’t meet the ‘international player’ criteria are eligible if they meet any of the following:
- They have completed four years of their college eligibility.
- They graduated from high school in the US, but did not enroll in a US college or university or four years have passed since their high school class graduated.
- They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team outside the NBA, anywhere in the world, and have played under that contract, although they must now be released from that contract.
When is the 2023 NBA Draft?
The 2023 NBA Draft is just around the corner, as it will be taking place on June 22 at the Barclays Center in New York.
The draft begins at 20:00 ET, the local time in New York, and it’ll be broadcast on ABC and ESPN.