While a greater part of NBA players make a significant decent living through their agreements, college and high school basketball stars playing free of charge has been a hot button issue for years. Multimedia sports brand Overtime is attempting to change that.
They will be beginning a professional basketball league that will offer high school basketball players an option in contrast to college in preparation of the NBA.
Overtime Elite will start in September 2021 and will feature 30 of the country’s top prospects from ages 16-18. The competitors will be given an ensured least compensation of $100,000 in addition to bonuses and equity in the league.
The league’s athletes will likewise approach healthcare and disability benefits. In the event that an Overtime Elite competitor decides not to seek after an NBA career, the league will pay them up to $100,000 to go towards college tuition.
Players that take an interest in Overtime Elite will relinquish their qualification to play high school or college basketball on the off chance that they join the league. The site for Overtime Elite games presently can’t seem to be determined, yet the league has some huge names backing it.
Portland Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony is an individual from Overtime Elite’s board of directors alongside previous Chicago Bulls guard Jay Williams, Dan Porter, Aaron Ryan and Zach Weiner. Anthony believes that the league can be a tremendous advantage to youthful players.
“Many athletes aren’t properly prepared for what it really means to go pro,” Anthony said in a statement. “Having this type of guidance for high school players is critical in setting them up for a successful career.”
Moreover, Weiner, who is the president of co-founder of Overtime Elite, believes that players have “long deserved” to be paid for their efforts.
“OTE offers the next generation of basketball talent what they have long deserved: a path that respects their value and honors their potential, as players and as people,” Weiner said. “Paying basketball players isn’t radical. What’s radical is telling people who put in thousands of hours of work that they have to do it for free.”
In recent years, some of the top high school players have elected to play in the G League and abroad as they arranged for an NBA career – as opposed to attend college. Jalen Green, who is relied upon to be a lottery pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, signed with the G League for $500,000.
Current Hornets star LaMelo Ball played with Prienai in the Lithuanian Basketball League and the Illawarra Hawks in Australia’s National Basketball League prior to being selected with the No. 3 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets.