LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton’s decision to take part in the Next Stars program in the NBL had multiple benefits for the prospects. On top of allowing the players to develop their skillsets as a professional in an environment without classes or tests or the responsibilities that go along with being a student-athlete, the NBL also offered a financial incentive that the NCAA (legally) doesn’t.
During Monday’s episode of The Hoop Collective podcast with Brian Windhorst, DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony offered new details as to what the contracts for Ball and Hampton looked like for the NBL.
“They will end up netting around $500,000 after they get (incentives). It’s the same thing with Jalen Green. It’s incentivized. He has to play a certain amount of games, he has to make a certain amount of appearances, he has to conduct their life skills part of the program. So, I think (the NBA) looked at what happened in the NBL and LaMelo Ball, his last game was Nov. 30. He had two triple-doubles then he had this mysterious foot injury, shut it down and didn’t play another game the rest of the season. That was a big hit for the NBL.”
This is the first reported figure for Ball and Hampton’s deals with the NBL. The only relatively certainty was that the league outbid the NBA’s G League Select Contract. Prior to the recent changes, the G League Select Contract was $125,000 last season.
The $500,000 contracts for Ball and Hampton are huge figures relative to the rest of the NBL. The salary cap for last season in the NBL was $1.43 million, meaning Ball and Hampton theoretically made up one-third of their team’s salary cap. However, their salaries do not count toward the cap as the league pays their salaries.
Still, it puts into perspective how big their salaries are. For more context, one of the league’s top players, Bryce Cotton, earned $600,000 for the 2017-18 season and was the highest-paid player in the league. While it’s a few years in the past, it again gives an idea of how large Ball and Hampton’s salaries were.