When the NBA created the G League Ignite program in 2020, it was essentially pitched as the NBA’s pipeline from prep to pro.
The Ignite program was supposed to be a way for the most talented high school basketball players in the world to earn a legitiamte salary for their talents while competing at a high level and preparing for the NBA.
Just four years later, the program is reportedly dying.
The NBA is shutting the program down after this season, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports.
Sources: The NBA is shutting down the G League Ignite team after this season, canceling the development squad of elite draft prospects and veterans that launched in 2020.
Full details at @TheAthletic: https://t.co/7KAYBVX1lI
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 21, 2024
It’s been a long time coming for things to get to this point. But this is probably the right decision. Let’s dive into how we got here.
Launched in 2020, the G League Ignite was the NBA’s plan to allow top high school prospects to get paid while playing in the G League and preparing for the NBA Draft. The league began offering G League contracts worth $100,000+ to major hoops talents who did not want to play college basketball.
Initially, the G League Ignite had success with names like former Kentucky Wildcats recruits Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga, who played for Ignite for a season, then became NBA lottery selections. This year’s Ignite team features former 5-star recruits Matas Buzelis and Ron Holland, but the team is currently 6-40.
(Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)
Well, not exactly. Adam Silver talked about this a few weeks ago during All-Star Weekend.
At that time, Silver said, the NBA was in the process of “reassessing Team Ignite.” Apparently, the NBA was questioning whether there was still a need for the team considering the overarching landscape surrounding it.
“Because now some of those same players who didn’t want to be one-and-done players because they felt it was unfair and they wanted the ability not just to earn a living playing basketball but to do commercial deals that weren’t available to them at college, to hire professional agents, an opportunity that wasn’t available to them at college, they now — all of those same opportunities have become available to them.”
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Well, yes. That was part of it. But the emergence of name, image and likeness rights for college athletes is only part of the reason the program is going away.
There’s also the Overtime Elite League, which has presented the best high school basketball players with another option to get paid, learn and still advance to the next level. We just saw it happen with Ausar and Amen Thompson over the summer.
There are just more options available to players now. Apparently, the NBA sees that as a reason to stop its program.
No. Not at all. Paying players was certainly part of it, but getting players prepared for the NBA was at the crux of the G League Ignite experience. The program was supposed to provid