Earlier today, RJ Hampton, a five-star recruit from Texas, with offers from Kansas, Memphis, Duke, and Kentucky, has decided to reject all of their offers and play overseas for the New Zealand Breakers.
There have been a variety of reactions all over the college basketball world. Some have declared him a trailblazer that other players should follow. Some have said he has earned the right to earn his money any way that he can. Others have scolded him and said he is making a massive mistake that he should that he will regret.
No one is necessarily wrong in their opinion just yet because we still have to see how his career plays out. One of the most poignant takes I saw though was from David West (Xavier alum and future NBA Hall of Famer), who pointed out that Hampton should have the ability to make money here in America rather than having to go overseas for a year.
In his tweet he was clearly referring to college’s system that doesn’t allow athletes to get paid for their skills. I also think though, that this tweet could apply to the NBA G-League as well.
Last year, the NBA finally made it possible for high school players to sign with a G-League team right out of high school for a modest $125,000 per year. These players are known as Select players and they make more than the regular G-League salary of only $35,000 per year. The NBA decides which players will become Select players which complicates things even further, but that is a topic for a different day.
The point of this Select salary was to entice high school recruits like Hampton or even Zion Williamson to forgo college and make money here in the US if they want to. Seeing Hampton’s decision today though has shown me that the G-league still is not appealing enough to for the biggest high school recruits.
There is hope and speculation among many NBA fans that one day a big time, high school recruit will choose the G-League and that will help grow its popularity substantially; yet still no one has done it. RJ today, had the best chance to change that and he chose to play in a country that is literally halfway across the globe from his friends, family, and fans. Clearly, top prospects still don’t see the G-League as a viable alternative to playing in college or even in a foreign country.
Maybe that’s simply because no landmark player has chosen the G-League yet as their gap year in between high school and the NBA. When a five-star recruit does finally make that decision, perhaps that will allow other players to follow in his footsteps which would then in turn create more popularity and viability for the G-League. Maybe the reason no one has done it yet though is because the league itself hasn’t invested the resources necessary to make the G-League a viable option for a high school player who is trying to decide his future. In this case, I certainly believe it is the latter.
Can the G-League grow into a viable college or overseas alternative for high school basketball players? Or, will players continue to choose other leagues in other countries because they have a larger financial incentive and opportunity to? Only time will tell, but either way this decision by RJ Hampton was a massive one that could shift how high school players decide their future going forward…at least until the NBA gets rid of the one-and-done rule in a couple years.
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