A Basketball Version of the XFL

[BBTV]

On 2/25/2020 at 10:54 PM, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry, and others pulling an AEW and realizing they can make money by running their own league. I don't think it's beyond the realm of possibility either.

 

It'd likely be their agents starting the league, with them as "EVP" providing the up-front investment (or at least a big part of it.)  It's not beyond the realm of possibility, but it would really only benefit the super-top guys - maybe even just the founders.  The pro is that they could set the rules however they want - dress code, drug policy, game number, stuff like that, but as it grows and requires more control (and controls) it would just eventually become what the NBA is now. 

 

Also, these guys already rake in 100M+ / year (salary + endorsements), so it's not like going through all the trouble to make more is really too pressing.  In an AEW situation, there's so  many other factors that lead to it - potential to earn more, creative freedom, work environment, working conditions, etc.  NBA isn't that bad, and let's be real - there's jabronis that nobody - maybe not even their own parents - have heard of that make 15M/year.

 

What I'd rather see is for Lebron, Dwight Howard, Kobe*, and anyone else that skipped college (maybe even Ben Simmons or KD or other guys that were forced to go to college because of lack of options), form an 18-22 league so that guys can get paid, skip the nonsense of college (like those guys did), and be NBA ready right out of the gate.  That would be much easier to start up, and could be profitable.  It could expand to also include guys trying to get bck in the league, like how Iverson wanted his last cup of coffee with the Sixers but really should have had to prove that he could still do something.

 

*yes, I know, but just making the point that he would have been the kind of guy that could have pulled this off.

[dfwabel]

1 hour ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

It'd likely be their agents starting the league, with them as "EVP" providing the up-front investment (or at least a big part of it.)  It's not beyond the realm of possibility, but it would really only benefit the super-top guys - maybe even just the founders.  The pro is that they could set the rules however they want - dress code, drug policy, game number, stuff like that, but as it grows and requires more control (and controls) it would just eventually become what the NBA is now. 

 

Also, these guys already rake in 100M+ / year (salary + endorsements), so it's not like going through all the trouble to make more is really too pressing.  In an AEW situation, there's so  many other factors that lead to it - potential to earn more, creative freedom, work environment, working conditions, etc.  NBA isn't that bad, and let's be real - there's jabronis that nobody - maybe not even their own parents - have heard of that make 15M/year.

 

What I'd rather see is for Lebron, Dwight Howard, Kobe*, and anyone else that skipped college (maybe even Ben Simmons or KD or other guys that were forced to go to college because of lack of options), form an 18-22 league so that guys can get paid, skip the nonsense of college (like those guys did), and be NBA ready right out of the gate.  That would be much easier to start up, and could be profitable.  It could expand to also include guys trying to get bck in the league, like how Iverson wanted his last cup of coffee with the Sixers but really should have had to prove that he could still do something.

 

*yes, I know, but just making the point that he would have been the kind of guy that could have pulled this off.

That's what David West is trying to do.

[UnclearInitial]

12 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

It'd likely be their agents starting the league, with them as "EVP" providing the up-front investment (or at least a big part of it.)  It's not beyond the realm of possibility, but it would really only benefit the super-top guys - maybe even just the founders.  The pro is that they could set the rules however they want - dress code, drug policy, game number, stuff like that, but as it grows and requires more control (and controls) it would just eventually become what the NBA is now. 

 

Also, these guys already rake in 100M+ / year (salary + endorsements), so it's not like going through all the trouble to make more is really too pressing.  In an AEW situation, there's so  many other factors that lead to it - potential to earn more, creative freedom, work environment, working conditions, etc.  NBA isn't that bad, and let's be real - there's jabronis that nobody - maybe not even their own parents - have heard of that make 15M/year.

 

What I'd rather see is for Lebron, Dwight Howard, Kobe*, and anyone else that skipped college (maybe even Ben Simmons or KD or other guys that were forced to go to college because of lack of options), form an 18-22 league so that guys can get paid, skip the nonsense of college (like those guys did), and be NBA ready right out of the gate.  That would be much easier to start up, and could be profitable.  It could expand to also include guys trying to get bck in the league, like how Iverson wanted his last cup of coffee with the Sixers but really should have had to prove that he could still do something.

 

*yes, I know, but just making the point that he would have been the kind of guy that could have pulled this off.

For guys that are trying to make it to the NBA based on what they can actually do and not just the potential of what they could do, European leagues and Australia exist already. Iverson went to Besiktas in Turkey and looked washed there too.

 

An 18-22 league would be interesting, but if anyone started it I think it would be one of the shoe companies. Maybe not Nike because they make so much money off college teams, but something like New Balance (which last year paid Darius Bazley for an “internship”), Puma, or one of the Chinese companies  which don’t have  college teams signed.  New Balance or Puma could get to high school prospects before Nike and Adidas can, and players who don’t go to college but don’t want to get exposed playing against more developed players could get training from trainers the apparel company provides instead of paying through agents for it. 

[dfwabel]

9 hours ago, UnclearInitial said:

For guys that are trying to make it to the NBA based on what they can actually do and not just the potential of what they could do, European leagues and Australia exist already. Iverson went to Besiktas in Turkey and looked washed there too.

 

An 18-22 league would be interesting, but if anyone started it I think it would be one of the shoe companies. Maybe not Nike because they make so much money off college teams, but something like New Balance (which last year paid Darius Bazley for an “internship”), Puma, or one of the Chinese companies  which don’t have  college teams signed.  New Balance or Puma could get to high school prospects before Nike and Adidas can, and players who don’t go to college but don’t want to get exposed playing against more developed players could get training from trainers the apparel company provides instead of paying through agents for it. 

It's not what show companies make off of college sponsorship, it is the relatively low investment cost of providing equipment (and sometimes cash as we saw in the Gatto/Adidas and the Avenatti/Nike trials) to the AAU/grassroots/EYBL basketball with a greater reward on the back end. 

 

Why pay 96-120 guys $50-150K per season when you can just pay four or six kids under the table through their parents, have them attend a college you sponsor for five months at no true cost to you and then get them in the NBA?

[4_tattoos]

I think an 18-22 minor league could really work if all the necessary parts were in place (mainly investors & facilities).

 

Assuming the NBA wasn't operating it, I wonder if it could be viewed as a threat to the G League or not? On one hand it would definitely be a head to head competitor for players in that specific age group. On the other hand, players that age out of an 18-22 league would probably wind up in the G League any way (at least those not ready for the main NBA level). So it would be a rival league and a feeder at the same time. Kind of an odd scenario.

[dfwabel]

36 minutes ago, 4_tattoos said:

I think an 18-22 minor league could really work if all the necessary parts were in place (mainly investors & facilities).

 

Assuming the NBA wasn't operating it, I wonder if it could be viewed as a threat to the G League or not? On one hand it would definitely be a head to head competitor for players in that specific age group. On the other hand, players that age out of an 18-22 league would probably wind up in the G League any way (at least those not ready for the main NBA level). So it would be a rival league and a feeder at the same time. Kind of an odd scenario.

Again, the PCL really hasn't gained traction even with a name change and their cities announced, all in the Eastern Time Zone, from Philadelphia to Atlanta.

 

As for the 21-22 year olds.  Juniors and Seniors really are not projected as 1st Round selections now and the 2019 Draft had six upperclassmen in the 1st Round which is about average and nearly all are not Lottery Picks. 

Historically, look here