On Wednesday, superstar Duke freshman Zion Williamson suffered a knee injury in the Blue Devils’ loss to North Carolina.

On Thursday, USA Today reported that the NBA has officially made a proposal to the National Basketball Players Association to lower the age a player can be drafted into the league from 19 to 18.

These occurrences have nothing to do with each other. Except, of course, they have everything to do with each other.

Williamson at Duke instead of NBA because of draft rule

Williamson’s injury as the highest-profile college player in years during the highest-profile game of the season drew the attention of former president Barack Obama and LeBron James and panicked Nike executives who saw their shoe play a role in Williamson’s fall.

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Williamson is listed as day-to-day with a grade 1 knee sprain, an issue that won’t impact his long-term health or draft status.

Williamson got hurt while playing without a contract

But the scare was enough to put a target on the concept of NCAA “shamateurism” that saw a superstar not under contract suffer an injury in a game where everyone but the players involved profited.

Duke, Mike Krzyzewski and the NCAA are all reaping the rewards of Williamson’s presence in Durham. ESPN is able to cash in to the tune of higher ratings when Williamson plays. Ticket sellers made Super Bowl-esque profits on the secondary market for the UNC-Duke game.

And this and every other web site covering sports are all racking up the page views that come with Williamson news.

Injury prompts calls for Williamson to play it safe

All of this while Williamson is getting hurt while playing as an amateur because he doesn’t yet have the option to play in the NBA. It’s enough to prompt calls for Williamson to sit the rest of the season to limit his injury risk.

Obviously nobody sane relishes the idea of an athlete like Williamson getting hurt. But if it happened while he was playing under a multi-million contract, it wouldn’t be so patently unfair.

Adam Silver has long supported lowering draft age

Which is where the NBA’s proposal comes into play. Not every blue chip prospect can jump straight from high school to the NBA. But Williamson absolutely could have and likely would have given the opportunity.

The USA Today report notes that the proposal to lower the draft age was put in NBPA executive director Michele Roberts’ hands ahead of the All-Star break for her review. The goal is lower the age for the 2022 draft and will require a negotiation between the league and the union.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has long supported the idea, which appears to be a matter of ironing out the details at this point. With the league officially proposing it, there’s simply too much momentum for the change to be made, with examples like Williamson’s injury on strengthening the case.

The NBA can’t eliminate injuries. But it can eliminate the need for NBA-ready players to suffer them while they’re not under contract.

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