Did Lavar Ball Really Force The NBA's Hand?
Yesterday it was announced that the NBA’s Developmental Basketball League known as the G-League will offer “Select Contracts” worth $125,000 to elite prospects who are at least 18 years old but not yet eligible for the NBA draft. Did Lavar Ball and the JBA force the NBA’s hand? Lonzo Ball seems to think so per his tweet below.
For those of you living under a rock and unfamiliar with the JBA, it was created as an alternative to the NCAA, allowing high school and junior college players to immediately play pro. The league was first announced in December 2017 by LaVar Ball, and it will be completely funded by Ball's sports apparel company Big Baller Brand. The JBA features eight teams from major American cities, with games in ten venues. It played its inaugural season in 2018. So in other words, it is a way for the really good ballers to skip college.
There are many arguments for and against why players should go to college first, but the JBA was another alternative for basketball players that were not looking to attend college. For the NBA to make a such a drastic move like this, it signals that the JBA had quite a bit of success with the league, enough success to cause the NBA to want to encroach on the territory.
Now the question is with the 800lb gorilla now entering into the space, will this cause problems for the JBA? Is this the signal to its end? The other interesting part about the NBA’s move is that it will give players control over their marketing likeness, something that the JBA controlled a big piece of.
The official word via ESPN is as follows:
The G League will target recent or would-be high school graduates who otherwise would have likely spent just one season playing college basketball, enticing them not only with a six-figure salary but also the opportunity to benefit from NBA infrastructure, as well as a bevy of off-court development programs “geared toward facilitating and accelerating their transition to the pro game,” league president Malcolm Turner told ESPN.
The G League has an established track record of elite talent from Top Division I college programs, whereas the JBA consisted of many unproven players. It will be interesting to see how the JBA shapes up with this new G League development.
