LaMelo Ball has taken an unorthodox path to the NBA draft, to say the least. Over the last four years, he’s played for one the greatest high school basketball teams ever, had a professional career in Lithuania and played in a league built by his father LaVar Ball before finally returning to the high school basketball circuit. While some of those moves were smarter than others, no decision LaMelo has made to date has been better for him than his decision to participate in the NBL’s “Rising Stars” program.
Not only has Ball been getting paid to play in the year leading up to his NBA draft eligibility, but he’s getting access to professional training facilities and playing against competition that’s somewhat comparable to the type of competition he’s going to see in the NBA. Again, it’s not the traditional path that elite high school prospects take to get their names on NBA draft boards, but it’s Ball excepts more to take going forward.
In an interview with Foot Locker QV in Melbourne, Ball said that he would recommend the NBL for anyone that doesn’t want to go the college route out of high school (via Sporting News):
“I just like being different. College isn’t for everyone I think, so this path can help you do other stuff that you want to do,” Ball said. “It’s a great league. They say it’s the second [-best] league, NBA players that were in the NBA stuff like that and people trying to get to the NBA. It’s a great league.”
It should be noted that Ball had hopes of playing in college, but because of decisions made by his father, he was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. It’s also worth noting that Ball wasn’t the first elite high school player to commit to playing in the NBL — it was RJ Hampton, who plays for the New Zealand Breakers.
Still, the point stands that the NBL will be a more appealing option for elite high school prospects going forward because of players like Ball and Hampton. If either of them are drafted in the top-five in next year’s draft, that point will only grow stronger, and the NCAA may be forced to make some changes.
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