New labor contract

Now Nba has a new labour contact system.The National Basketball Association players union won’t have to pay legal fees if a high school player sues to overturn the league’s new 19-year-old minimum-age requirement, union spokesman Dan Wasserman said.

According to the labor agreement announced last week, which must still be ratified by owners and players, the National Basketball Association would pay the legal fees associated with the case, Wasserman said in an interview at the organization’s summer meeting in Las Vegas.

Under the new labor contract, a player can’t enter the NBA draft until he’s 19 or until one year after his high-school class graduation date. Players who entered the league directly from high school include LeBron James, Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett.

Last year, eight of the first 19 picks in the draft came from high school, and three of the past four No. 1 overall picks — Kwame Brown, James and Dwight Howard — skipped college. Players coming directly from high school can be selected in tonight’s NBA draft.

NBA Commissioner David Stern had lobbied for a 20-year-old age limit, saying it was too difficult for team executives to evaluate players at such a young age.

Billy Hunter, executive director of the players association, has said he’s philosophically opposed to an age limit but relented during negotiations to secure economic concessions from the owners.

Opposition

A number of players, including Indiana Pacers All-Star Jermaine O’Neal, who entered the NBA from high school, argued against a minimum age.

Former Ohio State University football player Maurice Clarett sued to enter the National Football League draft last year as a sophomore and lost.

NFL policy bars players from entering the draft unless three full college seasons have elapsed since their high school graduation. The league says the rule protects young athletes from injury and protects the jobs of current players.

Clarett argued the policy violated U.S. antitrust laws, and a federal judge in New York sided with Clarett. That ruling was overturned by an appeals court that said the NFL was shielded from liability because its policy was ratified by a collective bargaining agreement with the union.

Stern said he’s confident that the NBA rule would survive any legal challenge.

“It has been held up over time from legal attack,” the commissioner said when the league and union announced the new labor deal on June 21.