Alex Squadron recently published a fascinating book titled “Life in the G: Minor League Basketball and the Relentless Pursuit of the NBA”. In it, he gives an inside look into what it is like for players in the G League and an excerpt from it certainly caught the eye.
“So every play did matter. All the my-bad and whoops moments would get noticed. In the G League, not sprinting back on defense could be the difference between someone liking you and dismissing you, between a call-up and a season in the minors, between millions and $37,000.”
Squadron, who previously worked with publications like the New York Post, had spent the 2021-22 G League season around the Birmingham Squadron and he shared his observations in this book. While the minimum salary in the G League has now gone up to $40,500 as per reports, you get the point that he was trying to get across.
What teams want to see from players in the G League is them giving maximum effort and being willing to tirelessly work for the cause. If you do that, you take a step in the right direction toward earning a contract worth millions in the NBA.
Some players fail to realize that teams are not scouting for the next star in the G League. Sure if you are just head and shoulders above the competition, that’s one thing, but just putting up big numbers won’t necessarily ensure you get called up.
Just because you average 25.0 points per game in the league as an iso-scorer doesn’t mean a team will sign you up. The reason for that is that the player is not going to get those opportunities to score in the NBA. So, if the only value you provide is being a volume scorer and you don’t put in much effort at anything else, you don’t help your chances of being called up.
On the other hand, if you display that you can be a valuable role player who gives his all for the team, your chances will improve drastically. A hustle player, a 3-and-D player, or an elite rebounder are the types that teams generally are on the lookout for.
Those kinds of players don’t need the ball in their hands all the time to have an impact on the court. They can fit into most systems and over time, could develop other aspects of their game and become stars in the league. Pascal Siakam and Khris Middleton are perhaps great examples of that.
The NBA G League
The G League was initially formed as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) in 2001. It had eight teams and became the minor league organization of the NBA. In 2005, it was rebranded as the NBA Development League (NBA D-League) and it kept expanding to the point, where it had 22 teams in the 2016-17 season.
It was after that season, that Gatorade became the official sponsor, which is how it became the NBA G League. It now has 31 teams in the 2023-24 season and will continue to churn out some solid players for teams in the NBA.
While the idea of the league is considered a good one, not everyone is a fan of it. PJ Tucker, who has spent time in it, ripped the NBA G League as the dumbest thing ever. Tucker also added that he has never believed in the league and doesn’t see the point of it.
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