An ambitious bid to launch a rival league to compete with the NBA may have more legs than you might think.
A report broke back in January that Maverick Carter, the longtime business manager and close friend of LeBron James, was involved in an effort by a group of investors to put together a new international basketball league that would attempt to rival the NBA. The report stated that the investors were seeking to raise $5 billion for the league, which would consist of 12 total teams (six men’s teams and six women’s teams) playing games around the world.
You can read the full details about the vision for the rival league here.
On the latest episode of his self-titled podcast for The Ringer this week, longtime sports personality Bill Simmons shared a noteworthy update on the efforts. Simmons said that the bid is looking legitimate and is backed up by a legitimate plan as well as by a lot of money.
“The alternative league, it’s being pushed by Maverick Carter, LeBron’s business guy,” said Simmons, per HoopsHype. “When I first heard about it, I thought it was bulls–t. I didn’t think it was real because, initially, everyone thought those [investors] were getting the [proposed NBA expansion Las] Vegas team … I thought this was a ploy, pretending they were raising money, just to drop it if they got the Vegas team.
“Everything I’ve heard is that it’s kind of real,” Simmons added. “I don’t know if they have all the money yet, but they have enough. Could you form a six-team league and convince five, six, or seven stars to jump when their contracts are up? I think the contracts would have to be over. But look at Luka [Doncic], he’s locked in until 2026.”
The idea of a new league suddenly arising and realistically competing with the NBA seems very far-fetched on the surface. The NBA recently surpassed $11 billion in per-season revenues, and each individual team now sits at an average valuation of roughly $4-$5 billion (with the league’s top stars starting to make over $50 million per year). Additionally, the NBA has not had a legitimate rival 5-on-5 league in nearly five full decades (ever since merging with the ABA back in 1976).
But Simmons has a track record of very good information when it comes to basketball and the NBA. Though even Simmons himself said he was skeptical of the proposed new league at first, it looks like the efforts may be for real.
