Take a look at 10 of the youngest players who have made their mark in the league. Here's a more detailed analysis of 10 of the youngest players who have left their mark on the league. Jermaine O'Neal held the title of the youngest player to play in an NBA game for nearly a decade. Darko Milicic is the youngest player to participate in an NBA Finals game and to win a NBA title.
The NBA has become a youth game over the past two decades, with more and more players being drafted in their late teens rather than in their early 20s after several years of college, as used to be the norm. As such, we have seen a large number of super young players being recruited in the late 90s and during the years 2000 and 2010. Next, check out the youngest players in NBA Draft history, led by the legendary Andrew Bynum, who was one of three players selected when he was 17. He has the distinction of being the youngest player to participate in an NBA Finals game (18 years, 356 days) and the youngest player to win an NBA title (18 years, 360 days). However, he would become a reliable role player who played 16 seasons in the NBA, playing for the Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics. The following season, at 23, he became an All-Star for the first time and won the NBA Most Improved Player award after averaging 19 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks.
Throughout NBA history, there have been different rules about when a player was considered eligible to enter the league. Following Haywood's ruling, the NBA amended its four-year rule to allow players to enter the league early in case of difficulty. The Pistons, already a championship-caliber team, didn't need to rely on a young player in Milicic's rookie season. In 1971, the NBA Supreme Court ruled that players must not finish high school for four years before joining the NBA. Two players used that difficulty rule to enter the 1975 NBA Draft fresh out of high school, Darryl Dawkins (No.
