Standing beside Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson on the dias as Adam Silver christens you a part of the 2023 NBA draft class. It’s a dream that every basketball player has but precious few ever realize however that might not be the case for Jordan Haber.
Despite never playing basketball, 21-year-old law student Jordan Haber found he was eligible and submitted paperwork to be a part of the annual NBA Draft in NYC. 🏀 https://t.co/8LRRrI8dGJ pic.twitter.com/3S8HmH57fL
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 19, 2023
For most players going undrafted is a soul-crushing experience but for one Jordan Haber, making it to the draft and sitting among the future NBA prospects is a dream come true. Haber is a 21-year-old law student who applied for the NBA draft off of a bet made with his friends.
Although having no prior experience playing professional basketball, Haber examined the NBA’s draft eligibility manuscript and found a loophole that allowed him to apply to the 2023 draft. Leave it to the law student to examine every inch of a document and find a few lines that have a colossal impact on the outcome.
How did Jordan Haber fool the NBA?
Jordan Haber is a TikToker and recent graduate from the University of Florida’s law school. According to him, a favorite pastime of his is reading miscellaneous legal documents. As such he started examining the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.
The National Basketball Association, a multi-billion dollar global conglomerate would surely have air-tight stipulations regarding one of the most prestigious aspects of their whole operation. But no, over the years it seems that this legal loophole has been present in the NBA’s drafting requirements and nowhere is it mentioned that the draftee must have played organized basketball for a period of time.
The CBA that Haber has exposed only stipulates that one NBA season needed to have elapsed since the player graduated high school along with a few other rudimentary conditions.
A normal kid (named Jordan Haber) read the NBA’s CBA & figured out how to officially become draft eligible.
He’ll be there at the draft alongside Wemby & Scoot.
Listen to @j_haber tell me all about it on the pod…https://t.co/ERW2QvPB3w pic.twitter.com/QLYm12WqE7
— Frank Michael Smith (@frankmikesmith) June 16, 2023
According to Article X, Section 1 (b)(i) and (ii), a person can be eligible for the draft if he is “at least nineteen (19) years of age during the calendar year in which the Draft is held, and … at least one (1) NBA Season has elapsed since the player’s graduation from high school” and “has graduated from a four-year college or university in the United States (or is to graduate in the calendar year in which the Draft is held) and has no remaining intercollegiate basketball eligibility.”
Jordan has documented his entire draft application process through TikTok and YouTube and even made a bet with his friends regarding his getting drafted though we are still unsure what exactly he has won through this bet.
He maintains a humble and realistic mindset that he will go undrafted even saying, “I am now Jordan Haber, member of the 2023 NBA draft class, uh, soon to be undrafted class.” He stands to be an inspiration for anyone who has ever fantasized about being drafted into the NBA but never had the chops to do so.