The NBA has determined to close down its G League Ignite experiment. The workforce’s final marquee prospect, Matas Buzelis, lately defined why.
The league launched the G League Ignite program in 2020 to offer an alternate avenue for teenage prospects to arrange for the NBA. The workforce performed its dwelling video games at Lee’s Household Discussion board in Henderson, Nev.
Quite than taking part in within the NCAA or going abroad, younger gamers have been supplied the chance to earn as much as $500,000 in wages and play towards G League groups till they turned eligible for the NBA Draft. However after 4 years, the NBA ended the program once the G League season resulted in April.
Buzelis, who was the G League Ignite’s high prospect final season, recently appeared on the “#thisleague UNCUT” podcast with Chris Haynes and Marc Stein.
The hosts requested Buzelis to expound on why he believed the G League Ignite program was shuttered. Haynes’ concept was that this system was shut down due to the NIL motion within the faculty ranks. Buzelis pushed again on the concept.
“It’s not even that,” mentioned Buzelis. “Ours received shut down as a result of the boosters didn’t give us any more cash. It’s robust to tug individuals out of Vegas to go watch teenage youngsters play, outdoors of Vegas, 20 minutes away. It was simply robust getting followers there. It wasn’t due to NIL or our document. It simply wasn’t a constructive funding.”
The Ignite completed with a 6-40 document final season. Regardless of a troublesome run within the G League, Buzelis was nonetheless drafted eleventh total by the Chicago Bulls in final month’s draft.
Earlier than Buzelis, names like Jalen Inexperienced, Scoot Henderson and Jonathan Kuminga additionally took half in this system.
