LaVar Ball announced that he’s starting his basketball league for high school graduates as an alternative to playing college basketball.
LaVar Ball is nothing if not creative. He’s become infamous for his bombastic proclamations. Those have often centered on his oldest son Lonzo Ball, a rookie with the Los Angeles Lakers, his two youngest sons, LiAngelo and LaMelo, who recently left UCLA and high school, respectively, to sign with a Lithuanian league, and his Big Baller Brand business ventures. He’s a guy who tends to try and solve problems by going big, but this might be his biggest idea yet.
Per Darren Rovell of ESPN, Ball has announced plans to start his own professional basketball league for high school graduates, as an alternative to playing college basketball under the restrictive NCAA structure.
"Ball’s Junior Basketball Association, which he says 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 said. 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."
Ball is certain to find enough willing players to fill his teams. The question is whether he can recruit enough top-tier talent to make the league an attraction and financially viable. Over the past few years, several prospects have gotten creative, choosing to play overseas instead of in the NCAA as they wait until they become NBA-draft eligible at age 19. However, the G League is still open to players who are 18 and older, with a minimum salary of $19,500. One has to assume that any player who is at least 18 and truly on an NBA track might prefer the higher salary and the higher quality of coaching they are likely to receive in the G League.
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That leaves Ball’s player pool at high school graduates who have not turned 18 yet, or those who don’t appear to be good enough prospects to land make a G League roster. In addition, the NCAA route, for all it’s warts, still appears to be the preferred option for most top recruits with plenty of exposure and high level coaching as the main advantages.
Knowing LaVar Ball, we’ll probably be hearing plenty more about this new league as he works on putting things together.