Kenny Smith, a two-time NBA champion and distinguished broadcaster, has been appointed head of Subsequent Stars’ participant initiatives in North America for the Nationwide Basketball League‘s Subsequent Stars program, the league introduced.
The appointment of Smith will see him actively recruit, develop and mentor new Subsequent Stars gamers, with the NBL hoping his standing and community throughout the American basketball ecosystem will bolster this system.
Smith, 59, will even grow to be an element proprietor of an NBL enlargement crew, set to be introduced within the close to future.
“With my ardour for rising the sport of basketball globally, I am extremely excited to be an envoy of the NBL’s Subsequent Stars program and to be absolutely invested within the progress of the NBL as a future proprietor of a brand new enlargement crew,” Smith mentioned.
“Professional pathways to the NBA are evolving, and the NBL has a confirmed observe report of getting gamers drafted. The NBL recognized a key position for me to mentor and help younger expertise and equip them with the instruments to compete at an expert stage with a view to creating the leap into the NBA.”
The Subsequent Stars program was created forward of the 2018-19 NBL season, with the goal of offering a platform for draft-eligible expertise to compete in forward of the NBA draft. Eight gamers have been drafted out of this system, together with three within the lottery: LaMelo Ball, Josh Giddey, and Ousmane Dieng. Over time, the initiative has additionally included draft-and-stash expertise.
Eight of the NBL’s 10 groups had a Subsequent Stars participant as a part of a roster for the 2023-24 season, headlined by the Perth Wildcats’ Alexandre Sarr, who’s No. 2 on ESPN’s most up-to-date 2024 NBA mock draft.
“We’re extraordinarily pleased with our Subsequent Stars program and what it has achieved however that is only the start,” Larry Kestelman, proprietor of the NBL, mentioned.
“The addition of ambassadors and future crew homeowners of Kenny Smith’s caliber and repute is really thrilling and exhibits how far now we have come, but in addition signifies to the basketball world the place we’re headed.”
“There are presently 11 former NBL gamers within the NBA and we wish to see that quantity enhance considerably and we imagine Kenny will assist us develop the Subsequent Stars program dramatically to realize this. We’re rapidly changing into probably the most reliable, and finest pathway to the NBA.”
This system was initially launched as a substitute for the school basketball system, primarily concentrating on one-and-done expertise. The NBA responded by making a developmental basketball crew of its personal, NBA G-League Ignite, however that program will fold on the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, largely because of the rise of the NCAA’s identify, picture, and likeness (NIL) coverage and switch portal.
The NIL coverage permits student-athletes to earn cash off their private model, making school basketball a considerably extra palatable possibility for high-level expertise who’ve the capability to leverage their reputation. NIL nonetheless poses a hurdle for the NBL when recruiting prime expertise world wide, however, with the dismantling of Ignite, the Subsequent Stars program now has one fewer competitor.
“Nicely, now it is extraordinarily nice as a result of there is no G League Ignite crew,” Smith mentioned.
“So, this provides you a chance, below the mentorship that I can present, and the steering and understanding, of what it’s to be a professional. I perceive what the American athlete is doing from each stage. I’ve one of many prime AAU basketball groups for years. I do school basketball March Insanity Last 4, and I am the voice of the NBA. So, there is no one which is aware of each side that they are (gamers) attempting to get on the planet most likely than me.
“That is going to be the pathway. That is going to be the pathway for the younger man who feels that his expertise are greater than school, but in addition desires to maintain his draft inventory and likewise learn to be a professional, earlier. We’re going to present you how you can have the accountability fall on you, at the moment.
“Oh, it is bodily since you’re enjoying in opposition to not simply 17-year-olds or 18-year-olds, you are enjoying in opposition to males. However what that additionally lets you perceive isn’t solely the physicality of the sport, it will get you prepared for the next step, which is the final word aim from going from the NBL to the NBA.”
