The Difference Between The G League and the D League


One reason why NBA players are able to get jobs is the fact that it has put up a developmental league called simply as the D League where each of the teams gets its own affiliate team.

Under D League rules, players can be called up anytime to sign at least a 10-day contract with any NBA squad if they do well with their respective D League teams.

And if those players do extremely well, their contracts can be extended until the end of the regular season and all the way to the playoffs.

One case is Yogi Ferrell, a shooting guard who signed a two-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks after toiling in the D League before initially signing a 10-day pact and getting extended because of his solid play.

Next season, the NBA D League will now be known as the NBA G League after it signed a marketing deal with the popular sports drink Gatorade. Aside from this, more NBA teams will put up D League affiliate teams.



In contrast, the Philippines' pro league, the PBA, also has its own D League but its concept is totally different because the players here are purely amateurs who are still going through college and they have to go through the rookie draft to join the big league unlike in the NBA D League where its players are already pros and can be called up anytime for an NBA promotion.

In addition, the PBA D League taps mostly school teams sponsored by a corporate firm and most companies who are in that league are the small-time ones. Only two PBA franchises have D League affiliates -- Cignal under the MVP Group and Blustar under Blackwater, which is a guest team made up mostly of Malaysian players.

Blustar, however, has two players from Blackwater in Tristan Perez and Jason Melano who were assigned to the D League in a process similar to NBA players being assigned to D League teams in order for them to gain more playing exposure.

And it is only in the PBA D League that you see a school team in Jose Rizal University. US NCAA college teams playing in the NBA D League would find themselves blown out because the US NCAA college game has totally different rules compared to the NBA.

In fairness, the PBA D League uses the same rules as the PBA and NBA although the biggest difference is that D League games have only 10-minute quarters, which is common under FIBA rules.

The main reason why the PBA D League accepts school-based teams is because this is a rule that was carried over from the defunct Philippine Basketball League, which folded up in 2011 after more than 25 years in existence due to Commissioner Chino Trinidad deciding to focus more on his career as a sportscaster and news reporter for GMA Network.

During the PBL's heyday, rival schools Ateneo and La Salle put up teams sponsored by Pioneer Insurance and ICTSI, respectively, Even Letran joined hands with Toyota Otis to form a PBL team.

Even the television coverage of both leagues is miles apart. NBA D League games are shown live on Facebook although some matches were aired live on NBA TV and ESPN.

PBA D League games are currently shown on a next day delayed basis on Aksyon TV Channel 41 which has a limited reach for those who don't have cable television.

The PBA D League has an age limit of 30 years old while in the NBA D League, former NBA players like Baron Davis have been allowed to play no matter how old they are.

And once a PBA D League player reaches the age limit, he has no other choice but to play in smaller leagues while another option is the ASEAN Basketball League which is a regional league like the NBA but uses FIBA rules.

As you can see, the NBA D League and its Philippine counterpart are miles apart in terms of concept and format. This is where the PBA needs to step up more and improve its D League concept in order to provide jobs for players.

Location: El Sobrante, CA, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The NFL on Philippine TV

Image
THE National Football League will finally have a Philippine TV carrier this season. A day ago, TV5 announced in its social media sites that it will air one NFL game every Monday, Tuesday and Friday live at 8 am with replays over its sister cable channel Hyper for Cignal subscribers. NFL games have been irregularly televised in the Philippines because obviously, many Pinoys don't understand the rules of American football. Previously, ABS-CBN tried airing the NFL on its defunct Studio 23 but the games didn't catch on with many viewers. And now, TV5 is gambling on the NFL as it tries to keep pace with ABS-CBN's Sports+Action 23 which airs the NBA, UAAP and NCAA games. Under TV5's schedule, the following NFL games will be televised: Monday mornings (Sunday Night Football on NBC) Tuesday mornings (Monday Night Football on ESPN) Friday mornings (Thursday Night Football on NFL Network) The Sunday morning, US time, games will not be televised on TV5 since the...
Read more

More Troubles at RX

Image
Photo of Gino Quillamor's tweet to Chico Garcia that led to Gino leaving RX. ANOTHER major blow has struck Monster RX 93.1 with the departure of Gino Quillamor from the morning show The Morning Rush. Quillamor left the show last week after being with Chico Garcia and Delamar Arias for close to a decade. Since then, he has not intimated of any plans to join another FM radio station. Earlier, Arias retired from RX in January this year to focus on marriage and motherhood. She resurfaced on Magic 89.9 to host the weekly show The Mother Show on Friday Madness mornings with Andi Manzano and Riki Flores. Quillamor and Arias's departures from RX have further weakened the station's lineup of DJs. In a previous post, other RX jocks have also left due to various reasons, such as recently married couple Andre Co and Cerah Hernandez, Jay Abastillas, Jinri Park, Sel Guevara, Carla Lizardo, Chris Schneider and Karen Bordador, who still remains in jail due to drug charges. As ...
Read more

The Slow Death of Magazines in the Philippines

Image
IN a sudden move that caught many people by surprise, Summit Media announced that it was shutting down its magazine division. Affected by the closure were the popular magazines FHM, Cosmopolitan and Yes, all of whom were leading in terms of circulation. In a statement, the Gokongwei-owned company announced that it would shift to digital media which explained why it had to close down its magazine division. As a result, FHM and Cosmo both ended up online through their respective websites, plus their respective social media accounts. Summit also owns other websites such as Philippine Entertainment Portal, which provides showbiz updates; and Spin.ph, which is a standalone sports website. Actually, a similar sports website, philsports.net, came out in the early 2000s and yours truly was one of the writers but it failed to catch on because at that time, internet wasn't easily accessible. Both FHM and Cosmo were at the height of their popularity when they both closed do...
Read more