The Jump – Transitioning from College to the NBA

Reaching the NBA is tough. In fact, ‘tough’ couldn’t be more of an understatement. It’s almost statistically impossible. When Adam Silver steps up on the podium on draft night, only 60 athletes from around the world will be selected for an NBA roster. This means over 4000 eligible college athletes must watch their NBA career crash and burn in front of them and what remains only provides two options, Europe or the G-League. 

 

Now I think we can all agree, neither of these options comes anywhere close to the exposure and stardom that the NBA provides. In fact, even of the 60 selected players, only 3-4 will go on to have long successful professional careers. Others will either spend their career as the backup’s backup due to lack of physicality or will try and break the record for the most high-fives in a single season (currently held by Jared Dudley). With little opportunity to prove themselves and frustration building, it’s easy to see why college players often move on. But there might be a solution: The Regional Basketball Association (RBA). 

 

This is a concept league that would work similarly in the way that Major League and Minor League Baseball works in the US, but with a few distinct changes. It would provide another platform for over 400 college players to continue to progress their careers as professional athletes; allowing them to grow in physicality and to further improve their skillset. The league would work in a 30-team format and provide cities such as Seattle and Las Vegas the opportunity to deliver live sport to a desperate fan base. Furthermore, as this league would work directly under the NBA, there would be opportunities for both promotion and relegation. This system would work similarly to how Championship and Premier League Football works in England and would allow the top two teams from the RBA to be promoted into the NBA and the bottom two teams in the NBA to be relegated to the RBA. This would then give failed college players another path to NBA contracts and give fans more exciting and engaging games to watch. 

 

However, there is one main drawback. Reaching the NBA is a dream for so many athletes because it is exactly that: a dream. It is a goal that is so elusive and impossible to reach that of the hundreds of thousands of athletes across America and the world, only 60 will get the opportunity to make their dream a reality. So, shouldn’t it remain this way? A prize as prestigious as the one the NBA provides shouldn’t give athletes second chances but it should leave its doors open for those who truly distinguish themselves from the rest.