The timing was purely coincidental, but Duke University phenom Zion Williamson’s disintegrating shoe and resulting knee sprain were nevertheless a symbolically appropriate nail in the coffin for “one-and-done.”
When the NBA increased its draft-eligible age limit from 18 to 19 several years ago, it was intended to be a means of deterring scores of underprepared high schoolers from skipping college in attempt to get right into the league.
But really, all it accomplished was a guarantee that athletes would participate in a single season of collegiate basketball before then declaring for the NBA Draft.
NBA teams are still drafting youngsters en masse, while those athletes with the temerity to actually become college seniors or juniors get unceremoniously saddled with the label of having “limited upside.