- June 25, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
“If you go to a pro league, you’re going to have to become an adult,” Lively said. “You’re going to have to pay bills, buy houses, buy apartments and all that. If you go to college, you have most of that taken care of. It’s going to be a hard decision to make: Do you want to stay in college for a year or go to a pro league for a year and play against grown men and work it out?”
For years after the N.B.A. prohibited its teams from drafting players directly out of high school, starting in 2006, there were few places to go besides college as a way station between high school and the N.B.A.
In recent years, though, other options have surfaced: Darius Bazley, now with the Oklahoma City Thunder, spent 2018-19 as a New Balance “intern,” part of an endorsement contract that assured him at least $1 million (and as much as $14 million). LaMelo Ball, this season’s top rookie with the Charlotte Hornets, and R.J. Hampton, now with the Orlando…
