History
The NBA G League has been an avenue for high school, college and international prospects to be drafted into the NBA since 2008 back when the league was named the NBA Development League (NBA D-League). [3] On October 18, 2018, the G League introduced Select Contracts of $125,000 for elite prospects, including opportunities for basketball development, life skills, mentorship, and academic scholarships starting from the 2019–20 season. [4] However, no players in the 2019 high school class signed a Select Contract. [5]
On April 16, 2020, the G League announced a raised salary for elite prospects and a one-year development program outside of its traditional team structure. [6] The prospects would play alongside veteran players on a select team that would take part in training and 10 to 12 exhibition games against other G League teams, foreign national teams, and NBA academies. [6] [7] [8] Under this select team that later became the NBA G League Ignite, younger players would have earned financial incentives for playing games, participating in community events, and attending life skills programs coordinated by the G League. They would also receive a full scholarship to Arizona State University, which was partnered with the NBA during that period of time. [9]
On the same day that the G League's new development program was announced, Jalen Green, the highest ranked player in the 2020 high school class according to ESPN, became the first player to join the NBA G League Ignite, earning $500,000. [6] [10] The G League subsequently drew attention as an alternative to college basketball, with some media outlets speculating that Green's decision would threaten the National Collegiate Athletic Association. [11] [12] [13] Green was soon joined on the team by fellow five-star recruits Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix, both former college commits, as well as Kai Sotto of the Philippines. [14] On June 9, 2020, former NBA player and coach Brian Shaw was named head coach of the Ignite. [15] On July 16, Jonathan Kuminga, the highest ranked player in the 2021 high school class, reclassified to the 2020 class and signed with the Ignite. [16] [17] The name of the team, previously referred to as the G League Select Team, was announced as the NBA G League Ignite on September 2. [18] On November 12, the Ignite signed veteran players Brandon Ashley, Bobby Brown, Cody Demps, Reggie Hearn, and Amir Johnson to play alongside and mentor the team's prospects. [19] On January 14, 2021, the Ignite signed Donta Hall and Jarrett Jack. [20]
The Ignite joined the 2020–21 season playing a full 15-game schedule in the single-site bubble tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, with 11 teams opting not to participate. [21] [22] In their first season, they put up an 8–7 record and entered the G League Playoffs in their first season, but they lost in the quarterfinal round to the Raptors 905.
In the Ignite's second season, they were only allowed to play in the Winter Showcase, an early-season tournament that allowed both them and the Capitanes de Ciudad de México, a Mexican-based G League team that was meant to join the G League Ignite in their inaugural season before the COVID-19 pandemic changed plans for them, an opportunity to compete with other G League teams due to the reeling effects of that pandemic. This season was primarily led by new prospects Dyson Daniels from Australia, former Yakima Valley College student MarJon Beauchamp, and 5-star recruit Jaden Hardy. While they were still based in Walnut Creek, California during this time, the Ignite would play their home games at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada due to the still-ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic at the time. In the 12 games they were allowed to play in, the Ignite held a 6–6 record, which gave them a 4th-place finish in the West Division but did not give them qualifications to compete any further in the Winter Showcase. They also competed against the Capitanes de Ciudad de México alongside other NBA G League teams in exhibition games after the Winter Showcase ended in order to give the younger Ignite players some extra reps during the second half of the G League's season. [23]
For their third season, the NBA G League Ignite moved from Walnut Creek, California to the Las Vegas Valley to play their home games at the Henderson Event Center in Henderson, Nevada going forward. [24] This season would best be noted for the 2022 Metropolitans 92 vs. NBA G League Ignite series of exhibition games that not only showcased the talents of Scoot Henderson and other young G League talents from the Ignite, but also that of 7'4" center Victor Wembanyama from the Metropolitans' end as well. The Ignite would see their highest amount of wins that season with 11 total, but they would also finish with the highest amount of losses by this point in their existence with 21 games lost as well.
During their fourth season of existence, commissioner Adam Silver indicated in a press conference on February 17, 2024, that the NBA would reassess the future of the Ignite as a whole. Silver noted that the implementation of name, image, and likeness rights in college basketball had diminished the need for an official feeder program. [25] [26] In addition to collegiate and even high school student athlete compensation being fully adopted by the early 2020s, the increasing growth of the competitive Overtime Elite youth basketball league being an alternative to not just the Ignite, but also collegiate and even professional basketball for younger prospects also became a factor in reassessing the Ignite's future in the NBA G League. [27] On March 21, 2024, it was announced that the NBA would be shutting down the franchise after the end of the 2023–24 NBA G League season. [28] Their final game as a franchise came on March 28, 2024, losing 113–102 to the Ontario Clippers. They lost 32 games in their 34-game season to set a mark for most losses in the history of the G League for one season to go with the lowest winning percentage ever at .059, while their two wins tied the Iowa Wolves of the pandemic-shortened 2020–21 NBA G League season for the least wins ever in a season. For the 2024 NBA draft, former G League Ignite players Ron Holland, Matas Buzelis, Babacar Sané, and Tyler Smith were the last players representing the team properly for the NBA draft, though Sané would be the only player of that group to go undrafted that year, with Smith being the last Ignite player selected directly from the team. Other young players that were on the team that season like Izan Almansa, Thierry Darlan, Dink Pate, and London Johnson will also look to be selected in future draft classes by as early as 2025.
