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LaVar Ball is Starting His Own Basketball League

Kevin Kinkead

By Kevin Kinkead

Published:

Photo Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Never one to do things the traditional way, LaVar Ball is building his own basketball league.

The JBA, or “Junior Basketball Association,” is for high school graduates who don’t want to go to college.

He’s even got a logo drawn up, swapping out legendary Los Angeles Laker Jerry West with legendary Los Angeles Laker Lonzo Ball:

Darren Rovell outlined some of the details in an ESPN article:

Ball’s Junior Basketball Association, which he says is fully funded by his Big Baller Brand, plans to pay the lowest-ranked player a salary of $3,000 a month and the best player $10,000 a month, Ball said. Ball is looking for 80 players to fill 10 teams that will seek to play at NBA arenas in Los Angeles, Dallas, Brooklyn and Atlanta.

“Getting these players is going to be easy,” Ball told ESPN. “This is giving guys a chance to get a jump start on their career, to be seen by pro scouts, and we’re going to pay them because someone has to pay these kids.”

League rules mirror the NBA and not NCAA hoops, meaning that there wold be four 12-minute quarters to go with a professional three-point line. Right now there are no players, no arenas, and no ticket sales, obviously, but you’ve gotta start somewhere I guess.

Ball is in the news every day, but the most meaningful item of the past month was the decision to pull his son LiAngelo from UCLA and send him to Lithuania to start his professional career.

And while the eldest Ball is oftentimes blustery and vapid, NCAA hoops has plenty of flaws, with players spending a year at Kentucky or Kansas or wherever before turning pro at age 19. Is contemporary “one and done” culture any more ridiculous than an entire league run by LaVar Ball?

Food for thought.

Kevin Kinkead
Kevin Kinkead

Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com

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