Hoops Hell
Are there too many leagues in minor and indy basketball?

Brian ROSS
Jason BLASCO
Jim MANDELARO
MLNSportsZone.com

NBA Development League (D-League). CBA. USBL. ABA. IBL. WBL. ANBL.  This month another startup basketball league, the Universal Basketball League (UBL) announced it will begin operation and is seeking interested owners.  The 2006-2007 season will mark the largest count of professional basketball leagues and teams, both domestically and globally, in the history of the sport.

Is that the good news about the sport, or is it a calamity in the making that may bring basketball, and its reputation in communities across North America, down?

Is the NBA D-League Developing Fast Enough?

In spite of mixed reviews of the NBA’s sanctioned D-League by owners, general managers, and major league coaches, Commissioner Stern and the league office pressed on, renegotiating deals with the NBA Players Association to allow NBA players to be assigned to the D-League in the 2005-2006 season. 

That was a major breakthrough in the development of developmental basketball, as the PA had resisted professional player development agreements that could send a player under an NBAPA agreement to a minor league.

It met with limited enthusiasm from the NBA parent clubs, though.  The D-League’s small size limits its usefulness as a development system for NBA players because it doesn’t provide time for all of the prime prospects to play. 

“The one thing about the D-League is now with multiple teams, at times, sending players, you might have a couple of teams sending players to a certain team," Miami Heat GM and Coach Pat Riley told Sun-Sentinel NBA Columnist Ira Winderman in an article appearing October 18, 2006. "You definitely want to have your players playing 30 or 35 minutes or there is no use in sending them down there."

Only the Los Angeles Lakers, who announced late this summer that they would develop their own D-League club, have a stand-alone, one-to-one relationship.

"By having their own minor-league team, even though they can only send two players down, they will be able to take a look at a lot of players close up," Riley said. "I think one day when we get to that it will be ideal."

Hoops’ Three Stooges

To better understand the state of minor basketball, think of D-League, the CBA, and the ABA as the Three Stooges, prodding and poking each other a lot. 

	Moe is  the NBA D-League, the strong man, using its NBA clout to establish dominance by being the only ‘minor’ league in basketball.
	Larry is the CBA, who, stuck in the middle, takes the brunt of both the NBA and ABA league building, but leverages its age and former standing to attract better ABA clubs into the league.
	Curly is the ABA, the heavyweight wild card league that is massive and unpredictable, both on the court and off. Marches to the tune of its own drummer, but it's at the very least entertaining.
	The USBL is Shemp, the summertime brother that wants to stay out of the fray.
	The IBL is Joe, not as out there as the ABA, but whose restraint and manners aren’t getting much notice in the rest of the high jinks.
	The UBL, WBL, and ANBL are the second Joe. It's tough to break into the act on the tail end of a long run when your only street cred is looking like the guy you want to replace.

D-Evolution

The National Basketball Development League (NBDL) was formed by the NBA after it tried to buy the CBA in March of 2000, for a reported $11 million from Isaiah Thomas, and was not able to come to terms. The NBDL was largely a failure.

On the court, it initially suffered from a lack of interest by either the...

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