What You Need to Know About the NBA G League
What is the NBA G League?
The NBA G League is the NBA’s official minor league, preparing players, coaches, officials, trainers, and front-office staff for the NBA while acting as the league’s research and development laboratory. Featuring 30 teams — 28 with one-to-one affiliations with NBA franchises — the league offers elite professional basketball at an affordable price in a fun, family-friendly atmosphere. NBA G League Ignite also plays against G League competition.
Read below for more information on the NBA G League.
FRANCHISE MAP
The NBA G League features 30 teams. In 2021-22, the New Orleans Pelicans debuted the Birmingham Squadron in Birmingham, Ala., while the Detroit Pistons debuted the Motor City Cruise in Detroit, Mich. The Denver Nuggets’ hybrid affiliation with the Grand Rapids Drive began with the 2021-22 season, and Mexico City Capitanes made their G League debut in 2021-22. The 2022-23 season will see the Agua Caliente Clippers rename their franchise the Ontario Clippers, while G League Ignite revealed an updated logo as part of a visual rebrand.
Go to NBAGLeague.com/Expansion for more
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who are the best players ever to play in the NBA G League? What is the relationship between NBA teams and their NBA G League affiliates? How can I watch games?
Answers these questions and much more on our Frequently Asked Questions page.
NBA G LEAGUE IGNITE
NBA G League Ignite is a first-of-its-kind team dedicated to developing top young prospects in preparation for the NBA Draft. Based at The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev., the roster includes elite players who are eligible for the NBA Draft and players in the early stages of their professional basketball careers as well as NBA and NBA G League veterans who serve as mentors to the team’s young talent. In addition to accelerated on-court development and competing toward an NBA G League Championship, the team focuses on life skills training that includes financial literacy education, community service involvement, and scholarship opportunities.
>> Learn More
GATORADE PARTNERSHIP
Beginning with the 2017-18 season, the NBA Development League (NBA D-League) was renamed the NBA G League as part of a multiyear expanded partnership between the NBA and Gatorade. This marks the first time a U.S. professional sports league was named an entitlement partner.
>> Learn More About the Gatorade Partnership
ALUMNI IN THE NBA
A record 47 percent of players on NBA start-of-season rosters for 2022-23 had NBA G League experience, up from 41 percent on rosters the previous season. With big names such as Pascal Siakam, Rudy Gobert, and Jordan Poole leading the way, every NBA team has at least one NBA G League alumni playing with them this past season.
TWO-WAY CONTRACTS
Beginning in the 2017 offseason, NBA rosters expanded from 15 to 17 players with the addition of two spots for players under “Two-Way Contracts.”
The following rules will apply to Two-Way Contracts for the 2022-23 Season:
NBA teams may have up to two players under NBA Two-Way Contracts. A Two-Way Player will be paid a flat salary equal to 50% of the Minimum Player Salary applicable to a player with zero Years of Service (in lieu of an amount calculated on the basis of NBA and G League Days of Service). For any Two-Way Contract entered into after the first day of the NBA Regular Season, the salary will be prorated proportionally. Only players with four or fewer years of NBA service are able to sign Two-Way Contracts, which can be for either one or two seasons. There will be no deadline for signing Two-Way Contracts during the 2022-23 Season (i.e., teams and players may enter into Two-Way Contracts after January 15, 2023). Note that Two-Way Players are not eligible to participate in playoff games for the 2022-23 Season.
Two-Way Players will not accrue “Days of Service” for either the NBA or the G League team in respect of the 2022-23 Season (and, thus, there is no 45-Day Two-Way Service Limit). Instead, the following rules will apply:
Click below to view the Two-Way Players signed during the 2021-22 season.
KEY DATES
Click the link below for key dates for the 2022-23 NBA G League season.
>> Key Dates
NBA G LEAGUE WINTER SHOWCASE
Showcase is the NBA G League’s annual in-season scouting event, when all of the league’s teams converge in one city to play in front of NBA general managers and player personnel executives from all 30 NBA teams. The 2022 event — Dec. 19-22 in Las Vegas, Nevada — marked the 18th Showcase. Due to the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season, there was no Showcase in 2020. The Ontario Clippers won the 2022 Showcase Cup Championship as the No. 4 seed, defeating the No. 7 Windy City Bulls in the Showcase Cup Fina. The Delaware Blue Coats won the 2021 Showcase Cup Championship at the AT&T Winter Showcase, coming into the tournament as the top seed in an eight-team bracket and defeating the Oklahoma City Blue in the Showcase Cup Final.
Prospects who have turned heads in Showcases past include Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela (Rio Grande Valley Vipers), Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (Bakersfield Jam), New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado (Birmingham Squadron), Houston Rockets guard/forward Gerald Green and Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin (Reno Bighorns).
HOW ROSTERS ARE BUILT
Players take a variety of paths to the NBA G League as they push toward the NBA.
Learn about the nine different paths a player can take to an NBA G League roster, which includes Two-Way Players, Returning Players, Affiliate Players, Local Tryout Players, NBA G League Draft Picks, NBA Draft Rights Players, NBA Assignees, NBA Draft-Eligible Players and Free Agents.
>> How NBA G League Rosters Are Built
MORE 101: How Call-Ups Work | Affiliate Players | Draft and Stash | Path to the NBA Draft | Coaching Call-Ups