ESPN: LaVar Ball plans to start league for high school graduates

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per ESPN:

LaVar Ball said Wednesday that he's launching a basketball league for nationally ranked players who have graduated from high school but don't want to go to college.

Ball said his Junior Basketball Association -- which he said is fully funded by his Big Baller Brand -- plans to pay the lowest-ranked player a salary of $3,000 a month and the best player $10,000 a month. Ball is looking for 80 players to fill 10 teams that will seek to play at NBA arenas in Los Angeles, Dallas, Brooklyn and Atlanta.

"Getting these players is going to be easy," Ball told ESPN. "This is giving guys a chance to get a jump start on their career, to be seen by pro scouts, and we're going to pay them because someone has to pay these kids."

Ball said the rules of his league will follow those of the NBA instead of college -- 12-minute quarters and a pro 3-point line.

Ball said he was partly motivated by the comments made earlier in the month by NCAA president Mark Emmert, who was asked at a SportsBusiness Journal conference whether Ball was good or bad for the college game.

"Is this about someone being part of a university and playing basketball or any other sport with that school's jersey on, representing that institution, or is it about preparing me for my career, my professional career as a ballplayer?" Emmert responded, just a few days after Ball's son LiAngelo left UCLA to turn pro before even playing for the school. "If it's the latter, you can do that inside a university and that might be a really good way to go. But if you don't want to and you don't think that it's right for your family, then don't come."

"He was right," Ball said. "Those kids who are one-and-done, they shouldn't be there with the NCAA trying to hold them hostage, not allowing them to keep the jersey they wear while selling replicas of them in stores. So our guy isn't going to go to Florida State for a year. He's going to come to our league."

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ball-wants-start-league-high-school-graduates

Go Gophers!!
 

Great! I'm really enthusiastic about seeing this happen, because it will provide more evidence that an alternative to the NBA for recent HS graduates is not a sustainable model in the US.

And, in the extremely unlikely event that it actually is successful, a viable alternative will get people to quit bitching about the NCAA and trying to force them to pay players.
 

Hearing many past NBA and NFL players talk about this matter, I think this could 100% threaten college basketball if done correctly. That being said, I don't think Lavar is the guy to do it correctly.
 

BleedGopher said:
Ball said his Junior Basketball Association -- which he said is fully funded by his Big Baller Brand -- plans to pay the lowest-ranked player a salary of $3,000 a month and the best player $10,000 a month.
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How long will the season last.. 4 months? = 12k... not close to the value of a NCAA scholarship.

Jennings and Mudiay each pocketed $1.2 million for their seasons abroad.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Great! I'm really enthusiastic about seeing this happen, because it will provide more evidence that an alternative to the NBA for recent HS graduates is not a sustainable model in the US.

And, in the extremely unlikely event that it actually is successful, a viable alternative will get people to quit bitching about the NCAA and trying to force them to pay players.
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You sounds bitter.
 


I see a lot of problems here.

For starters...3k-10k a month isn't going to cut it when you consider the players likely are only going to be paid for 4-5 months. They could make millions overseas yet are going to make maybe 15k-20k to play here. They'd be better off going to college than taking that.

Also, 80 players for 10 teams playing 12 minute quarters. So 8 guys per team and 48 minute games. That would be pretty grueling on the players over a whole season. You're going to need at least ten players per team, and realistically more like 12-14 when you take injuries into account.

And finally, what does Lavar know about running a basketball league? I don't think he is going to find 80 players who would rather put their future in his hands than in the hands of Coach K or Tom Izzo.
 

Playing in NBA arenas? Nothing more exciting than 600 fans in an 18,000 seat arena.
 

A more realistic option is to market and grow the G-League correctly. Infrastructure is there. HS players could choose to play in G-League for 1-2 years depending on NBA's new age limit likely to be implemented, then be eligible for the draft afterwards. Each team has a salary cap and ability to sign up to 2 max players that can earn the highest salary (e.g. $250k).
 

Whether Ball can organize it, I don't know. There are plenty of minor/junior leagues with organizational models and experience to draw on. However, it's a good way of either forcing the NBA to forgo the one year waiting period or, if successful, buying you out.
 



Ignatius L Hoops said:
However, it's a good way of either forcing the NBA to forgo the one year waiting period or, if successful, buying you out.
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They wont be buying him out.. They can just do it with the G-League if they decide to go that route.
 

10k a month is chump change compared to what a blue chipper could get overseas.
 

Yawn. I don’t care. I couldn’t pick Ball out of a lineup. He’s only relevant to himself. Let all of the top players go straight to the NBA/Dleague and it wouldn’t matter to me. I care about kids that play for MN and their B1G opponents. Sure, I’d like better players, but I only care about them because they wear Maroon & Gold. I’ll watch an entire Ivy League hoops game but can’t sit through a full quarter of a Wolves game.
 

I know Lavar is not strapped for cash but if you figure each player making an average salary of 25K (some more some less) that is around 2 million in player salaries per year alone. And wanting to play in NBA arenas, yeah that will be cheap. Then he wants to have the teams spread out all over the US so that means travel costs and all that. He is going to have to sell a lot of shoes and gear to fund this or more likely get a loan from Lonzo.

Story claims his kids won't be part of the league, how many truly believe that if he gets this going that he would not find a way to pull his kids back to the states to play in this league?
 



Will probably fold like the xfl and the players will end up with nothing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

He's a DB. It will never succeed with him at the helm.
 



Exactly. Lavar's league would be like the 4th choice at best for most kids coming out of HS. In some order ahead of it would be playing in the NCAA, overseas, or the G-League. Those three are all far better options than a low-paying league run by someone with zero experience and basically zero NBA connections.

There really isn't even a market for his league. It's an awful idea without even considering his lack of qualifications to run it.
 

Where he's going to get the money? Lonzo is still on a rookie deal, it's not like BBB is rolling in the dough either. Does he have millions of dollars lying around from previous endeavours? How's he going to pay for good coaches and personnel that it will take to make people want to play in this league
 

goldenboy said:
Yawn. I don’t care. I couldn’t pick Ball out of a lineup. He’s only relevant to himself. Let all of the top players go straight to the NBA/Dleague and it wouldn’t matter to me. I care about kids that play for MN and their B1G opponents. Sure, I’d like better players, but I only care about them because they wear Maroon & Gold. I’ll watch an entire Ivy League hoops game but can’t sit through a full quarter of a Wolves game.
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Bingo. I don't have a flat brimmed hat or am a 5 foot 5 dude in jersey with nothing on underneath it, so I don't really care.
 

Regardless of how far this goes - I applaud the Balls for having the... you know.... to take on the U.S. sport racket/monopoly.

They go to antitrust court and all of the sudden "waaaaaaahhhh it's just a gaaaaaaaaame, we don't have a monopoly"

It will get fun when the pandora's box of competition opens for the "established leagues" in U.S. sport.
 

Mr. Ball paints with a broad brush. He's not that good with details, however.
 

bfast said:
Regardless of how far this goes - I applaud the Balls for having the... you know.... to take on the U.S. sport racket/monopoly.

They go to antitrust court and all of the sudden "waaaaaaahhhh it's just a gaaaaaaaaame, we don't have a monopoly"

It will get fun when the pandora's box of competition opens for the "established leagues" in U.S. sport.
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Are you on the BBB payroll? Dude can do no wrong in your eyes. This is a stupid idea that will not work unless some huge sponsor comes on board and covers most of the cost because there is no way his pockets are deep enough to fund this for more then a very short window.
 

The question I have is:

Why does a one and done even go to college, when G-League is a great alternative? They would spend that year learning what it takes to be a pro, and have coaches with true relationships with NBA GMs.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
The question I have is:

Why does a one and done even go to college, when G-League is a great alternative? They would spend that year learning what it takes to be a pro, and have coaches with true relationships with NBA GMs.
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Take Gary Trent Jr. for example; playing a year at Duke and chasing a national championship would more rewarding live experience (and it's not even close IMO) than a year in the G-League. Plus; long term it's not going to make much of a difference financially.
 

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