A joke among friends quickly made a serious turn when Jordan Haber found a loophole for entering the NBA Draft in New York City. Despite never having played a single professional basketball game, the 21-year-old incoming law student from Florida discovered he was eligible for the 2023 NBA Draft and made it official by filing the necessary paperwork.
"So I made a bet with my friends, and I made it into the NBA Draft," Haber said in a TikTok video posted last month, which has surpassed 3 million views.
@haberjordan Hi @NBA looking forward to going 1st overall #nba #nbadraft #nbadraft2023 ♬ NBA On TNT Theme - Slumber Girlz U Rock
Haber’s basketball experience only goes so far.
The most experience he has is playing solo and recreation league, not on a college, high school or middle school team. By reading the Collective Bargaining Agreement, he found that the only listed eligibility requirements for the NBA Draft are to be at least 19 and a graduate from a 4-year college or university in the United States.
“Everyone who tried this before had failed. They became NBA free agents not able to live the childhood dream. But, I had a gut feeling I could find a way around this. I set out to do the impossible,” Haber stated in a YouTube video.
Several email exchanges and signed documents later the NBA confirmed Jordan Haber as eligible for the 2023 Draft. He is expected to attend the annual draft on Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. In addition, he will be documenting his trip to New York for the Draft on his YouTube channel.
"I think when I walk into the Barclay Center, I will get pretty emotional just because of how far this has come. It's what you dream of as a kid, like that small chance you get drafted … I want to show people you can do anything if you just set your mind to it,” Haber told ABC News.
Kyana Early (she/her) is a journalist from the San Francisco Bay Area who covers entertainment and culture.
Edited by Nykeya Woods