Has a 17 year old ever been drafted in the NBA?

Did a 17-Year-Old Ever Get Drafted Into the NBA?

Yes — though it’s extremely rare, a 17-year-old has been drafted into the NBA. The most notable case is Korleone Young, not Shaquille O’Neal as sometimes misremembered. Young, a highly-touted guard from Washington, D.C., declared for the 1998 NBA Draft straight out of high school at just 17 years old. He was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 40th overall pick but was immediately traded to the Detroit Pistons. While he didn’t make a significant impact on the court, appearing in only a handful of games, his selection remains a footnote in NBA history as one of the youngest players ever drafted.

It’s important to clarify the confusion around Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal did enter the NBA straight from high school, but not at age 17. He played at LSU for three years before being drafted first overall in 1992 at age 20. The mix-up likely stems from another player — Kevin Garnett, who did jump straight from high school to the NBA in 1995, drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves at 18. Garnett paved the way for future prep-to-pro stars like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

The NBA eventually implemented an age limit in 2005, requiring players to be at least 19 and one year removed from high school, effectively ending the era of 17- or 18-year-olds entering the draft directly. Before that, however, the league saw a brief wave of high school phenoms testing their luck against seasoned professionals.

So while a 17-year-old has technically been drafted, it was an outlier — a product of a different time when the rules were looser and the risks much higher. Today, the path to the NBA almost always includes at least a year of college or international play, making Young’s story all the more unique.