The NBA will end G League Ignite after the 2023-24 season, the league announced Thursday.
NBA G League President Sharif Abdul-Rahim said in a statement:
“Four years ago, we started Ignite to fill a void in the basketball world, and we are proud to contribute to that ecosystem.With the changing landscape across youth and college basketball, now is the right time. “This is a great time to take this step. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to General Manager Anthony McLeish, Head Coach Jason Hart and his staff, and to each player who wears an Ignite jersey. As always, the G League's commitment to developing top-level NBA talent and helping players achieve their goals is unwavering in their NBA dreams.”
The Athletic's Shams Charania was the first to report the news.
Launched as a G League team in 2020, the Ignite was primarily comprised of elite draft prospects seeking compensation to play basketball before becoming NBA Draft eligible.
The NBA's decision to shut down Ignite comes at a time of increased visibility, image and visibility within the college athletics world, giving players the opportunity to receive compensation before turning professional.
Players do not receive a salary from their respective schools, but can sign contracts with companies in exchange for compensation.
For example, USC's Bronny James, son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, is the highest-paid college athlete through NIL at $4.9 million, according to On3.com. Kentucky freshman Robert Dillingham also has an NIL valuation of $1 million.
According to ESPN's Tim Bontemps, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver mentioned the possibility of Ignite being shut down during All-Star Weekend last month.
“Given what happened, I think we're at a stage where we're re-evaluating Team Ignite, because now we feel like it's unfair and that we're going to have one-and-done… Some of the same players who didn't want to be players, because they wanted to be able to not only make a living playing basketball, but also have the ability to make commercial deals that weren't available to them in college, as well as professional agents. The ability to hire, opportunities that weren't available in college, and now they have all those same opportunities. They are now available.
“We don't know what the future holds for Team Ignite. Previously there was a hole in the market and we wanted to fill it before we did that, but now we're focusing on the early development of those players. I am.”
At the time of the Ignite team's inception, college athletes were not being paid, and going to the G League was seen as an attractive option for drafting prospects due to the compensation offered. Ta.
As a result, Ignite developed some of the NBA's top young players, including Scoot Henderson (Portland Trail Blazers), Dyson Daniels (New Orleans Pelicans), and Jalen Green (Houston Rockets).
Henderson was the third overall pick in the 2023 draft, Daniels was the eighth overall pick in 2022, and Green was the second overall pick in the 2021 draft.
The introduction of the NIL into college athletics was a disadvantage for Ignite, as the team had the worst record in the G League with 6 wins and 40 losses and had already been eliminated from playoff contention.
Matas Bouzelis and Ron Holland are the team's top two 2024 draft prospects. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman has Holland selected sixth overall and Bouzelis seventh overall in his latest mock draft.
