No you wouldn’t because popularity would eventually drop to the point that it wouldn’t be regularly televised. There wouldn’t be big tv contracts for the diehard fans but you could always listen on the radio.
G-League ups base salary to 35k for 5 month season, free housing, bonuses
- Thread starter WitnessGreatness
- Start date
Nah, Kentucky will always be Kentucky. Some low rate developmental minor league wont change that. The NCAA TV contract runs thru 2032 and our conference has it's own network. Lol at the thought of G League games being televised when they cant even average 1000 fans a game.
Food and transportation should be covered when traveling. Any travel expenses they incur will be their own fault.
That is also assuming they are doing nothing for 7 months, which is likely not true.
Here’s what you are missing:
1. No classes ( more attractive to some than you think)
2. 100% focus on improving your game (no arbitrary practice limits, etc)
3. And most importantly——-You are now professional so agents can give and loan your money, this will happen a lot for hi-po players to sign with them. I would give a guy with a 50/50 shot at making it a few hundred K to get part of his lifetime contracts. I’ve invested in worse deals.
1. No classes ( more attractive to some than you think)
2. 100% focus on improving your game (no arbitrary practice limits, etc)
3. And most importantly——-You are now professional so agents can give and loan your money, this will happen a lot for hi-po players to sign with them. I would give a guy with a 50/50 shot at making it a few hundred K to get part of his lifetime contracts. I’ve invested in worse deals.
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Almost no television time to build your brand. That's what you're missing on that list.
Overrated compared to having the ability to work on your game 24-7
Why would you annualize it when it's not annualized?
What does UK spend each year per men's bball player? 200k? 250k? 300k? Not to mention you're living like a freaking king.
The G league is a terrible alternative to UK.
If you're not a first rounder, stay in school.
![[laughing]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/laugh.r191677.gif "Laughing [laughing]")
Annualized to show what that is truly worth. Or I could say 35k with 7 months vacation.
But I'm sure making coaches and administrators rich while they struggle to go to a movie or fly home and all those classes they are so interested in is a much better option
again you most think the folks at nike, gatorade need college to find guys. pretty easy to spot marquee players. sign them up early and they will do all the marketing and build a brand and you would get paid for it right away. unlike college where you dont make jack while building your brand. the notion that brand is dependent on college visibility is silly and short sighted.
Lol. Yeah, it’s free. Tuition, housing, food, medical attention, books, transportation, training, gyms, and marketing are all free in the real world. That’s why college doesn’t cost money and everyone just kind of attends casually without the involvement of their families or taking out life-altering loans.
Thanks for reminding me of the rules in fantasyland.
G League ain't glamorous. Just ask anyone playing in it.
I know these kids don't know any better, but their parents should.
$35,000 before taxes doesn't go far. Not to mention nobody gives a shit about watching or attending a G league game.
I know these kids don't know any better, but their parents should.
$35,000 before taxes doesn't go far. Not to mention nobody gives a shit about watching or attending a G league game.
well considering the dropping attendance and viewership across college basketball.....not sure why fans are so convinced players need the love of college fans so bad.
Hes still talking about finding guys and doesnt understand the concept of marketing.
Since G League is taking over we might as well get used to it. Here's Derek Willis tearing it up in some expo center which is basically like playing in Rupp on ESPN.
Their brand early on is irrelevant. It’s all about making it NBA. That’s their focus and all they really want in the end. College is a means to that end, but it won’t be the only one at some point if the NBA has its wish.
The players get shoe money and agent money based on potential with an NBA team, not the fact that KY fans will buy their stuff. How long would it be before fans saw talent in AD if he went straight to the G league for a year and then the NBA? Maybe a few more guys new his name but in the end all that mattered was his ability. Lebron has done OK with no time to build his brand in college.
It’s not about $35k or marketing. If the rules are lifted how many kids would turn down agent and shoe money right out of HS for taking a year in the G league?
The players get shoe money and agent money based on potential with an NBA team, not the fact that KY fans will buy their stuff. How long would it be before fans saw talent in AD if he went straight to the G league for a year and then the NBA? Maybe a few more guys new his name but in the end all that mattered was his ability. Lebron has done OK with no time to build his brand in college.
It’s not about $35k or marketing. If the rules are lifted how many kids would turn down agent and shoe money right out of HS for taking a year in the G league?
Here's Malik Monk lighting it up. I'm not sure why theyre not playing a bigger arena with such a top talent.
Your kind of making your own rebuttal since all that marketing money stays at the university and none to the kids. Show me what they get related directly to the brand they build while in college? Going to the G league opens the door for shoe deals and agent $ immediately. They can work their ultimate brand when they make the league. It hasn’t hurt those who skipped college before. IMO There is zero correlation between college and endorsements. The shoe companies and agents are looking at pure potential and that is pretty we’ll known before they ever hit a campus.
I realize this has more to do with the potential rule change than the $35k.
Nope, as soon as the season is over they're a known commodity and the endorsement deals come rolling in. Trae Young is signing deals and making big money right now, so is Luka Doncic but to a much lesser extent because he doesnt have a brand yet and no one knows anything about him.
These dudes can play overseas for millions right now and still choose college. You think $35K and living in Souix Falls is gonna change that?
And Malik got paid more that night than most college grads make in their first year. You aren’t helping your point or I’m missing your point.
They would have got those same deals straight out of HS without the rule. The shoe and agent deals are on potential. Once the rule is gone, HS is where that potential will be evaluated more so than college. College will be the place those who can’t go straight and want an education in case they can never make it go to develop. We will see I guess.
Huh? That because he has an NBA contract, were talking about the dudes who make $35k, play in a 2,000 seat arena, traveling by bus, while hoping that some dude named Noel Gillespie develops you.
We'll see if that's more appealing than playing at UK.
No they wouldn't have, no one gave a shit about Trae Young until he blew up on the college scene, was tearing it up on ESPN every week, and considered must see TV. He was barely a top 20 recruit and the only people who cared about him were either local or recruiting him. He built his brand playing college basketball.
The point is the guys in the G league will be making more than $35k with the shoe deals and agent money they get fronted. It still may be a bad choice for many, but how many are making bad choices and going too early today for the chance to make it?
My point with MM is straight out of HS he would have got an NBA contract and shoe deal, etc. That will be hard for a teenager to turn down. They are raising the salary for the ultimate end of making it a more viable and livable choice for players once the rule changes. Even top 20 guys like Trae Young will have a shot at getting drafted straight once a few years of the rule change wipes out the clases ahead of him. It’s all about potential because it’s worth the risk to teams, shoe companies and agents.
Agreed. And just to cite a few Kentucky examples, there is no way Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Willie Cauley-Stein would have been able to separate themselves from the pack in the G League the way they did in college.
In college basketball, a player can develop a brand by becoming part of a storyline in which they earn roles and responsibilities. This is tougher in the G League because nobody cares about the actual outcome of games. Players in the G League regularly drop 50 points and we don't even hear about it. The other thing is that players are far more fungible in the G League. They move between teams constantly, and there is quality depth on every roster at every position. It is very easy to get lost in the mix.
"Building your brand" through college matters through your first or second year and that's about it. Showing out in the NBA once you get there is more important for building your brand
Makes a lot of sense. I think this is more developing a game and a niche’ than building a brand, but this is the one argument and path I would argue for players that don’t fit the none and done mold.
"Building your brand" through college matters for maybe your first year or two. Showing out in your rookie year in NBA no matter how you got there is way more important to your brand
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There's a segment here that is money comes first, second, and third. Since the G league offers 35,000 in income, these types of posters immediately assume it's better. It's not.
And for the record, something that is always missed? The G league is not going to hold your hand and force you to do anything. In college they will, the environment is much more structured and the parents stay involved. It's not happening in the G league. This idea that assumed about players having more time to spend on basketball therefore they will is ridiculous and untrue. Sometimes they don't. Maybe more time to grow in college under college coaching and a structured environment is a lot better for an 18 year old. There will be so many flameouts from this, just wait.
I get that some people are ignorant as hell to how life works and just revolve their entire world around instant cash, but that's not how it works in real time.
And for the record, something that is always missed? The G league is not going to hold your hand and force you to do anything. In college they will, the environment is much more structured and the parents stay involved. It's not happening in the G league. This idea that assumed about players having more time to spend on basketball therefore they will is ridiculous and untrue. Sometimes they don't. Maybe more time to grow in college under college coaching and a structured environment is a lot better for an 18 year old. There will be so many flameouts from this, just wait.
I get that some people are ignorant as hell to how life works and just revolve their entire world around instant cash, but that's not how it works in real time.
How many primetime college games did you see from Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard, DeAndre Jordan, Paul George, CJ McCollum, Kyle Kuzma? Their brands are doing pretty well for the stage of their respective careers, and they were basically complete mysteries to the casual fan.
Your assertion that college is more structured than the G League is simply untrue. The NCAA’s 20 hour rule prevents that from happening. There’s a reason Cal makes such a big deal about MKG starting a breakfast club or players staying after practice to put in extra work. Players have to take on the responsibility for developing themselves far more in college.
NCAA limits team activities to 20 hours per week and requires two days off per week. And that covers practices, games, team meetings, film sessions and weight training. So if a player wants to improve, it’s up to them to go out and practice what they’ve learned on their own.
That’s not the case in the G League. And most NBA teams have two way development coaches who are part of the NBA team staff but will also travel with the G League team to provide additional skill instruction to players before and after practice. That’s a significant investment in player development.
College basketball may offer some advantages over the G League, but a more structured environment is not one of them.
