ICM Partners continued its European expansion with the purchase of London-based sports agency Stellar Group, the biggest acquisition in the 45-year history of the Hollywood talent agency.



Stellar, which ranked fourth last year in&nbsp;Forbes’ annual look at the world’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbelzer/2019/10/21/most-valuable-sports-agencies-caa/">most powerful sports agencies</a>, represents more than 800 athletes—mostly in soccer but also in track and field, cricket, rugby and the NFL—and manages current contracts totaling almost $3 billion, according to ICM.



“The world is becoming so interconnected and horizontal. The walls are all down with everything. It’s about evaluating talent and what kind of impact you can have with that talent,” says ICM CEO Chris Silbermann, who declined to disclose the price of the Stellar deal. “We feel we can apply a lot of the expertise we employ with celebrities and talent to athletes now as well. There is a natural fit.”



ICM is the smallest of the big four entertainment agencies, which also include WME, UTA and CAA. The Stellar deal heightens the competition with CAA, which launched its industry-leading sports practice 15 years ago. ICM represents stars Ellen DeGeneres, Beyoncé, Samuel L. Jackson, J Cole and Khalid, as well as content creators Spike Lee, Shonda Rhimes and Vince Gilligan. With Stellar, it adds global soccer icon Gareth Bale and rising stars Saúl Ñíguez and Mason Mount to the mix.



Silbermann says they will be the foundation of a “multi-faceted” sports business that will be branded ICM Stellar Sports and will eventually include basketball, golf and tennis in the U.S., sports that are currently dominated by CAA, Wasserman, Excel and Octagon. ICM handles off-field work for several athletes like New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman and New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, but its purchase of Stellar is its first major move into athlete representation, tying it to Jonathan Barnett, Stellar’s cofounder, whom&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;rated as the industry’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbelzer/2019/10/21/most-powerful-sports-agents/">most powerful agent</a>.



“We love sports; we love athletes. We want to grow the agency,” Silbermann says. “Synergy is a completely overused word, but it is an appropriate word because there is a lot of natural synergy with what we are doing. Jonathan and David [Manasseh] have built something amazing, and we’re going to take it to the next level.”



The purchase completes a hat trick of sorts in Europe, following a partnership with U.K. music agency Primary Talent International signed in March and a significant investment in Swedish entertainment company Albatros last month.



CAA Sports acquired London-based Base Soccer Agency last year while Wasserman added a pair of agencies this year to its soccer roster in Spain-based Top Value and Key Sports Management in the U.K. Soccer representation is good business since commissions can reach 10% on playing contracts; they are capped in U.S. sports leagues, ranging from 3% in the NFL to 5% in MLB. The NBA and NHL rates are both 4%.



This year, the coronavirus caused massive layoffs at talent agencies as commissions dried up with live events and filming shuttered. ICM laid off roughly 40 support staff members in April and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/icm-partners-layoffs-furloughs-1234760300/" target="_blank">enacted another smaller round</a> of layoffs last month. But the job cuts have been deeper at ICM’s larger rivals. WME-IMG parent Endeavor had its <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2020/04/13/endeavor-gets-credit-rating-lowered/">credit rating lowered</a> in April from B to CCC+, indicating “substantial risk.” The company scuttled a planned initial public offering in October 2019.



ICM kept its debt load in check in recent years and leaned on a&nbsp;<a href="https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/icm-partners-crestview-partners-sell-stake-1203439607/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$150 million investment</a>&nbsp;from private equity firm Crestview Partners in December for one-third of ICM to shore up its business and go on an acquisition spree. “As things return to normal, we are committed to being stronger on the other side. There are opportunities,” says Silbermann, who doesn’t expect the live concert business to return in full until next summer at the earliest.



Silbermann started talking to Barnett and Manasseh roughly a year ago about a partnership that would give ICM a foothold in sports and give Stellar clients access to a full-service entertainment agency. Both will serve as executive chairmen of ICM Stellar Sports and run day-to-day operations. ICM founding partner Ted Chervin will oversee the sports business. The 130 Stellar employees are all expected to join ICM.



“It’s a people business. We’re not buying a bunch of patents on microchips,” says Silbermann. “You have to trust those people. You have to work with those people and share a vision. If we didn’t know they were going to continue with the business, then that would have been a different calculus on how we approached this.”



By Kurt Badenhausen, Forbes Staff

Tottenham Hotspur Training Session

ICM Acquires Soccer Agency Stellar Group As First Step To Build A Sports Practice

LeBron James’ move to the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency in July 2018 brought star power back to the NBA’s glamour franchise. AT&amp;T hopes James can bring that same star power, and his millions of fans, to its latest offering.



Today, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2019/05/15/worlds-largest-telecom-companies-2019/#2c8aba756d4e">world’s largest telecom company</a>&nbsp;fully launches its new streaming service, AT&amp;T TV (not to be confused with AT&amp;T TV Now), with a national campaign featuring James and others celebrities like Missy Elliott, Tracy Morgan and Cookie Monster in a series of ads based on “TV Famous Mouths.”



James has dominated the NBA action on the court this season. He leads the league in assists and has the Lakers five and a half games ahead of the rest of the Western Conference in his 17th year in the NBA. Yet King James might be enjoying an even better year off the court, with a handful of new lucrative endorsement partners and the continued growth of his I Promise community.



The four-time NBA MVP’s sponsorship prowess and commitment to Akron schoolchildren converge with the multiyear AT&amp;T agreement. As part of the partnership, AT&amp;T’s technology and other resources will be allocated to the I Promise Village, which serves as transitional housing for families with students at the nearby I Promise School opened by James, his namesake foundation and the Akron school district in 2018.



“To have one of the biggest communications companies in the world believe in my kids and the work we’re doing to uplift families is incredible,” James said in a release announcing the agreement.



James already has a deep relationship with AT&amp;T through the company’s Warner Bros. Entertainment and HBO divisions. His production company, SpringHill Entertainment, partnered with Warner Bros. to develop the&nbsp;Space Jam 2&nbsp;film, which stars James and is set for a 2021 summer release.&nbsp;The Shop&nbsp;and&nbsp;Student Athlete&nbsp;are both SpringHill shows that appear on HBO. And Warner Bros. and Turner Sports&nbsp;<a href="https://www.warnerbros.com/news/press-releases/uninterrupted-secures-158m-financing-led-warner-bros-entertainment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">invested $15.8 million</a>&nbsp;in late 2015 in Uninterrupted, the digital multimedia company founded by James and his business partner Maverick Carter.



AT&amp;T joins James’ burgeoning endorsement portfolio, which also added Rimowa luggage, Walmart and the mental fitness app Calm over the past year. General Motors revealed James as its new pitchman last month&nbsp;<a href="https://people.com/sports/super-bowl-2020-lebron-james-gmc-ad/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">during a Super Bowl ad</a>&nbsp;for the upcoming GMC Hummer EV. The above brands&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/10/23/the-nbas-highest-paid-players-2019-20-lebron-james-scores-record-92-million/#29cb1fe4dae6">join James’ longtime sponsors</a>&nbsp;Nike, Coca-Cola, Beats and Blaze Pizza.&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;estimates James will earn more than $60 million off the court this year, on top of his $37.4 million salary with the Lakers. Nike represents&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/08/28/the-nbas-richest-shoe-deals-lebron-kobe-and-durant-are-still-no-match-for-michael-jordan/#476c1dac3d02">more than half</a>&nbsp;of his endorsement earnings.



James has incorporated many of his recent sponsors into his I Promise initiative, including AT&amp;T. Walmart stocks the school’s pantry, which is accessible 24 hours a day for the school’s families, with fresh and frozen food, toiletries and other basic necessities. The content on the Calm app is available to all I Promise students and staff.



AT&amp;T TV has been available in 13 cities to this point. It&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/at-t-launches-new-online-tv-service-as-video-customers-fall-1282026" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">enters a crowded streaming market</a>&nbsp;battling for cord-cutters, many of them subscribers of DirecTV, which AT&amp;T acquired in 2015 for $48.5 billion. AT&amp;T TV features an Android-based set-top box that acts like a Roku or Apple TV and offers live TV, DVR storage and on-demand titles that are also available on mobile devices.



AT&amp;T is banking on James to attract subscribers. His 150 million social media fans across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are by far the most of any American athlete. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/08/03/social-medias-most-valuable-athletes-ronaldo-mcgregor-and-lebron-score/">The only athletes with more fans</a> are global soccer stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="AT&amp;T TV Multi-Screen | AT&amp;T" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IsJ0BPC3Ij8?start=1&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



&#8211; <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/">Kurt Badenhausen</a>, Forbes Staff, Sports Business

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LeBron James Adds Multiyear AT&T Deal To His Endorsement Stable

NBA salaries have skyrocketed in recent years, but the biggest stars have earned more off the court than on it to this point in their careers. LeBron James, who tops the ranking for the 2019-2020 season, has made more than twice as much from endorsements than his $270 million in playing salary over his first 16 years. Kevin Durant’s on-court earnings of $187 million in 12 seasons is dwarfed by his current ten-year, $275 million Nike deal.



At $92 million, including salary and endorsements, James is the NBA’s highest-paid player for the sixth straight year. It is a record haul for an active basketball player. Nike is his biggest backer, and the company is naming a new research lab at its Beaverton, Oregon, corporate campus after James. Last month, the 17th iteration of his Nike signature shoe, the LeBron XVII, hit stores.



The four-time NBA MVP added a pair of endorsement deals in 2019 with Rimowa luggage and Walmart, which joined Coca-Cola, Beats By Dre, Blaze Pizza and NBA 2K in his sponsorship stable. 



He also has a budding digital media company, Uninterrupted, and a production firm, SpringHill Entertainment, which will release a sequel to the 1996 Michael Jordan vehicle&nbsp;Space Jam&nbsp;in conjunction with Warner Bros. in 2021. All of the off-court work is worth an estimated $55 million for James this season.



The Los Angeles Lakers star’s comments about the NBA’s geopolitical mess in China also reveal the precarious position everyone in the league is in as political unrest in Hong Kong shows no signs of abating. 



As the league’s 74th regular season tipped off Tuesday night, the NBA was still reeling from the crisis&nbsp;set off by a tweet&nbsp;from Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey in support of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters. 



Commissioner Adam Silver backed Morey’s right to free speech, but some players didn’t, including James, who&nbsp;called Morey&nbsp;“misinformed or not really educated” on the situation. “We love China,”&nbsp;said Rockets point guard James Harden.



It was a rare misstep for two of the league’s more media-savvy stars, both of whom have close ties to China. Adidas, which has Harden as the face of its basketball business, generated more revenue in China last year than in North America, and the Rockets are China’s most popular team after drafting native son Yao Ming in 2002. 



Nike’s China revenue topped $6 billion during the last fiscal year, and the country is a growth leader for the brand. James has represented Nike on 15 off-season trips to China. The sports giant pays James more than $30 million annually to pitch its products around the globe.



And the threat of losing its growth trajectory in China could have&nbsp;far-reaching consequences for team valuations.



But back at home, the financials of NBA franchises remain solid, which is good for player salaries. The league’s salary cap is soaring, fueled largely by the nine-year, $24 billion TV deal with ESPN and TNT signed in 2014. 



NBA players are entitled to 51% of the league’s “basketball-related income” as laid out in the collective bargaining agreement. The rich TV deal and budding international business means 46 players will earn a playing salary of at least $25 million this season,&nbsp;according to Spotrac. The $25 million club had zero members five years ago. And unlike in the NFL, every dollar is guaranteed upon signing.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5dae26dba210800006f01924/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="The NBA's Highest-Paid Players"/></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5dae36f1c538200007811159/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="The Highest-Paid NBA Players - Dataviz"/></figure>



On-court salaries in the NBA are capped based on a player’s number of years in the league and accolades earned in cases in which an award like MVP entitles them to a bigger percentage of a team’s salary cap. 



So the pecking order for the elite stars is ultimately determined by their off-court income, with the shoe deal the biggest component of those earnings. There are ten active NBA players who will&nbsp;make at least $10 million&nbsp;from their shoe contracts this year, by&nbsp;Forbes’ count.



Stephen Curry comes in at No. 2 on the earnings list this year and is expected to generate $85 million this season, including $45 million off the court. Under Armour represents nearly half of his off-court income.



Curry’s $40.2 million salary from the Golden State Warriors is the highest in the history of the NBA; he’s in the third season of the five-year, $201 million contract he signed in 2017. Curry’s production company, Unanimous Media, has a development deal with Sony Pictures. 



Unanimous’ first movie,&nbsp;Breakthrough, was released in April, with Curry playing a role in marketing the Christian-oriented film, which grossed $50 million on a $14 million budget.



Durant has the NBA’s second-biggest annual shoe contract after James’ at an estimated $26 million this season. His total earnings from his playing salary and endorsements is $73 million. Nike sells more KD shoes in China than in North America, according to Durant’s business partner Rich Kleiman.



Like James and Curry, Durant has his own production company, which is co-producing a new basketball-themed drama,&nbsp;Swagger, that is inspired by Durant’s youth basketball experience and will air on the Apple TV+ streaming service.



The NBA’s ten highest-paid players are expected to earn a cumulative $600 million this year, including $250 million from endorsements, appearances, merchandise and media.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5dae275fc5382000078110fe/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="A Closer Look At The NBA's Highest-Paid Players"/></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5daf2c3ea210800006f02881/1920x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="#10: Damian Lillard"/></figure>



Lillard signed a four-year, $196 million supermax extension in July with the Portland Trail Blazers that kicks in for the 2021-2022 season. The final year is worth $54.25 million for the 2013 NBA Rookie of the Year and four-time All-Star. Lillard’s Adidas shoe deal is worth roughly $10 million annually.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5dae1aae616a450007043fb2/1920x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="#9: Giannis Antetokounmpo"/></figure>



The “Greek Freak” is eligible for a five-year, $248 million contract extension next summer with the Milwaukee Bucks. It would be the richest deal in the history of the sport. In June, Nike unveiled the first signature shoe, Zoom Freak 1, for the 2019 NBA MVP.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5daf2ca0b231a60006a598df/1920x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="#8: Chris Paul"/></figure>



Only Curry will earn more on the court this season than Paul, who was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in July. Paul was an early investor and&nbsp;ambassador for Beyond Meat, whose stock price has quadrupled since its initial public offering in May.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5daf2d63b231a60006a598fa/1920x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="#7: Klay Thompson"/></figure>



Thompson’s coach, Steve Kerr, says the sharpshooter is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27901817/warriors-steve-kerr-says-klay-thompson-likely-miss-season-recovering-torn-acl" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">likely to miss the entire season</a>&nbsp;after tearing his ACL during the NBA Finals in June. But he’ll still collect his full $32.7 million salary—almost double last year’s—under the first season of the five-year, $190 million pact he signed in July. Thompson is the basketball face of Chinese shoe brand Anta.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5daf2db6a210800006f0288f/1920x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="#6: Kyrie Irving"/></figure>



Irving joins his third team in four years this season. His four-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets is worth $136 million and includes an additional $4.3 million in potential incentives. A viral Pepsi ad campaign featuring Irving as the elderly Uncle Drew eventually led to a 2018 feature film; Irving has partial ownership of the character. Irving is another Beyond Meat investor.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5daf2e23a210800006f0289a/1920x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="#5: James Harden"/></figure>



The 2018 NBA MVP purchased a minority stake in the Houston Dynamo of MLS this summer for $15 million. Harden also holds equity stakes in BodyArmor, Stance socks and Art of Sport. His salary with the Rockets jumps $8 million this season with the start of a contract extension he signed in 2017.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5daf3047616a450007044e8b/1920x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="#4: Russell Westbrook"/></figure>



Westbrook’s five-year, $207 million contract is the largest deal in the NBA right now. The eight-time All Star extended his deal with Nike&#8217;s Jordan brand in 2017 for another ten years and in 2018 received his first signature shoe, the Why Not Zer0. Westbrook has averaged a triple-double for three straight seasons.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5db0bd83a210800006f04987/1920x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="#3: Kevin Durant"/></figure>



Durant is likely to miss the entire season recovering from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in June during the NBA Finals. He’ll still pocket his full first-year salary from the Brooklyn Nets under the four-year, $164 million deal he signed in July. He’s invested in more than 30 startups, including Postmates and investing app Acorns.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5dae1d7a8591980006e63826/1920x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="#2: Stephen Curry"/></figure>



The two-time MVP used some of his hoops money in June to buy a $31 million home in Atherton, California, with his wife, Ayesha. He also made a seven-figure donation this summer to Howard University to help launch a golf program at the school and recently signed an endorsement partnership with Callaway Golf. Curry became the only player to win the NBA MVP unanimously when he won his second of back-to-back awards in 2016.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5dae1dc0c538200007810fb8/1920x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="#1: LeBron James"/></figure>



James signed an endorsement in 2019 with Walmart that is rooted in community work. He worked with the retail giant on its&nbsp;Fight Hunger. Spark Change.&nbsp;initiative, as well as the company’s back-to-school campaign. James is part of an investment group that owns 19 Blaze Pizza franchises across Illinois and Florida.



-Forbes; Kurt Badenhausen

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The NBA’s Highest-Paid Players 2019-20: LeBron James Scores Record $92 Million

The NBA may be a star-driven league, but its financial structure ensures that building a roster requires more than identifying talent. It&#8217;s not just about finding the right player; it&#8217;s about finding the right player at the right price.



With team values&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/02/06/nba-team-values-2019-knicks-on-top-at-4-billion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">continuing to climb</a>, owners can afford to pay an underachieving player. The real pain is in the opportunity cost: What could you have gotten for that money instead? How else could you have beefed up your roster?



It&#8217;s no surprise, then, that teams continue to search for new inefficiencies and measures of value, in a statistical revolution.



As with any bet, though, occasionally you gamble and lose.



Here are some of this season&#8217;s big losses.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How We Determined Who&#8217;s &#8216;Overpaid&#8217;</h4>



The inventor of the methodology we&#8217;re using here is David Berri, a sports economist at Southern Utah University and a former&nbsp;Forbescontributor. The number-crunching involves a few thorny decisions, but the premise is beautifully straightforward.



Figure out what a player&nbsp;should&nbsp;be making. Compare that against what he is&nbsp;actually&nbsp;making. The difference between the numbers is the amount by which he&#8217;s overpaid (or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2019/04/12/nba-underpaid-harden-giannis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">underpaid</a>). Rinse and repeat.



Berri&#8217;s big contribution is the method he devised to produce the first estimate—what a player should be making. We start with the fact that, under the league&#8217;s collective bargaining agreement, players as a group are guaranteed&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q15" target="_blank">roughly 50%</a>&nbsp;of basketball-related income. Because we don&#8217;t yet know the BRI figure for the 2018-19 season, we&#8217;ll use last season&#8217;s: BRI was $7.147 billion, and the players&#8217; share was $3.645 billion, according to&nbsp;Larry Coon&#8217;s NBA Salary Cap FAQ.



If we assume that teams are paying players to win, we can divide the players&#8217; income by the total number of regular-season games (1,230) to produce an estimate of the value of a win: $2.963 million. (Yes, for the purposes of this analysis, we&#8217;re ignoring the fact that teams sometimes may not want to win or may be paying players for a reason other than winning, like boosting ticket sales. We&#8217;re also ignoring playoff games in computing the value of a win because players are paid out of their salaries solely during the regular season.)



From there, if we multiply our win value by the number of wins a player produces, we arrive at that player&#8217;s value for the season—his &#8220;expected&#8221; salary.



We have many win estimates to choose from in this player analysis, but all of them have the same basic goal: boil down a number of statistics (like points, rebounds and turnovers) into one number to measure how many wins a player contributed to his team. All of these metrics have their strengths and weaknesses, so in this analysis, we will be taking the average of three win estimates to try to minimize the blindspots of any one of them. Our three inputs: Wins Produced, a metric created by Berri and listed at&nbsp;BoxScoreGeeks.com; a wins estimate based on the metric Value Over Replacement Player, which&nbsp;is calculated by Basketball-Reference.com&nbsp;and is itself based on the metric Box Plus/Minus; and Win Shares, another metric&nbsp;calculated by Basketball-Reference.



Of course, these metrics are limited by the inputs they&#8217;re using; if the metric doesn&#8217;t account for something that&#8217;s inherently hard to quantify—for instance, a player&#8217;s ability to man up on defense—then that metric won&#8217;t fully capture a player&#8217;s value. But while it&#8217;s easy to point out that problem, it&#8217;s not so easy to solve it. We&#8217;re left with an imperfect measure.



Because these metrics are assessing a player&#8217;s contributions relative to a theoretical replacement-level player, they can be negative—that would suggest the player is actually worse than a replacement the team could pluck out of, say, the G League. In our analysis, though, a negative win estimate would make the player&#8217;s expected salary a negative number, suggesting the player was actually paying the team to play. While many fans might take that deal, we&#8217;ve substituted in zeroes whenever a metric turns negative so the lowest an expected salary can go is $0.



For player salaries, we are using data from&nbsp;Spotrac. Importantly, we are using the player&#8217;s cap figure—which is what the team is actually paying him—rather than his base salary. In the vast majority of cases, those numbers are the same, but when they differ, the cap figure will provide a more accurate measure of value.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Who We Considered For The &#8216;Honor&#8217;</h4>



We could perform this analysis on all 530 players who appeared in an NBA game this season, but because players accumulate wins across games, our overpaid list would be dominated by players who barely saw the court, many of them because of injury. To avoid that, we added in minimum thresholds of 41 games and 500 minutes played. Those are fairly arbitrary numbers, but they do measure a large enough portion of the season that a player&#8217;s real value should start to come through.



We also excluded players whose contracts are governed by the rookie salary scale. That left us with 257 players to analyze.



We compiled the data. We crunched the numbers. These are the 10 players who appeared to be the most overpaid.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/1140284280/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="Chris Paul of the Houston Rockets in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 3."/><figcaption>Chris Paul of the Houston Rockets in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 3.YONG TECK LIM/GETTY IMAGES</figcaption></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">10. Chris Paul</h4>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Point guard, Houston Rockets</h5>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Wins Estimate Average: 7.4 (6.5 VORP wins, 6.6 Win Shares, 9.1 Wins Produced)</li><li>Expected Salary: $21,906,447</li><li>Cap Figure: $35,654,150</li><li>Difference: $13,747,703</li></ul>



Paul is having a reasonably productive season—with 9.1 Wins Produced, he is tied for 45th in the league despite playing only 58 games—but his Win Shares and VORP wins figures are easily career lows and are noticeably down from the 10.2 and 11.6 he posted last year, when he also played 58 games. If he could stay healthy, this contract wouldn&#8217;t look so bad—he still has two years to go, plus a player option for 2021-22 at $44,211,146—but he&#8217;s missed 69 games across the last three seasons. Can the Rockets really count on having him for a full season?



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/1133217981/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="Wesley Matthews of the Indiana Pacers in a game against the Denver Nuggets on March 24."/><figcaption>Wesley Matthews of the Indiana Pacers in a game against the Denver Nuggets on March 24.MICHAEL HICKEY/GETTY IMAGES</figcaption></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">9. Wesley Matthews</h4>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Shooting guard, Indiana Pacers</h5>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Wins Estimate Average: 1.6 (0.8, 2.7, 1.4)</li><li>Expected Salary: $4,849,443</li><li>Cap Figure: $19,135,259</li><li>Difference: $14,285,816</li></ul>



Matthews&#8217; current contract might not look so bad—he counts $512,746 against the Pacers&#8217; cap—but that&#8217;s only because he was waived by the Knicks in February. For this analysis, we combined his two cap figures, as well as his on-court production across his three stops this season.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/1142095040/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="Kent Bazemore of the Atlanta Hawks in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 26."/><figcaption>Kent Bazemore of the Atlanta Hawks in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 26.JONATHAN BACHMAN/GETTY IMAGES</figcaption></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">8. Kent Bazemore</h4>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Shooting guard, Atlanta Hawks</h5>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Wins Estimate Average: 0.5 (0, 0.7, 0.9)</li><li>Expected Salary: $1,580,267</li><li>Cap Figure: $18,089,887</li><li>Difference: $16,509,620</li></ul>



Bazemore hasn&#8217;t come close to living up to a deal he signed in 2016—the year the salary cap spiked and the value of contracts surged. Bazemore still has a player option for next season; count on him taking the $19,269,662.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/1128531243/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="Tim Hardaway Jr. of the Mavericks in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers in February."/><figcaption>Tim Hardaway Jr. of the Dallas Mavericks in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers on February 25.BRIAN ROTHMULLER/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES</figcaption></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">7. Tim Hardaway Jr.</h4>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Shooting guard, Dallas Mavericks</h5>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Wins Estimate Average: 0.7 (0, 1.8, 0.3)</li><li>Expected Salary: $2,074,100</li><li>Cap Figure: $19,200,127</li><li>Difference: $17,126,027</li></ul>



The Mavericks took on Hardaway&#8217;s pricey contract as a cost of acquiring Kristaps Porzingis. On top of his $17,325,000 base salary, he earned $1,875,127 when the Knicks dealt him as a result of a trade kicker.



Hardaway averaged a career-high 18.1 points this season, but he didn&#8217;t get there particularly efficiently, shooting .393 from the field and .340 from 3. With another year on the deal and a player option for 2020-21, he won&#8217;t be coming off Dallas&#8217; books as soon as the team might like.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/1059790152/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="Allen Crabbe of the Brooklyn Nets in a game against the Denver Nuggets on November 9."/><figcaption>Allen Crabbe of the Brooklyn Nets in a game against the Denver Nuggets on November 9.MATTHEW STOCKMAN/GETTY IMAGES</figcaption></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">6. Allen Crabbe</h4>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Shooting guard, Brooklyn Nets</h5>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Wins Estimate Average: 0.3 (0, 0.8, 0.1)</li><li>Expected Salary: $888,900</li><li>Cap Figure: $18,500,000</li><li>Difference: $17,611,100</li></ul>



Crabbe&#8217;s contract is another from the fateful summer of 2016. He appeared in just 43 games this season because of injuries and had middling numbers when he did play, shooting an abominable .342 on 2-pointers. Coming off arthroscopic knee surgery, he seems likely to pick up his $18,500,000 option for next season.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5cafdf814bbe6f706aa3379c/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="Otto Porter Jr. of the Chicago Bulls in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies on February 27."/><figcaption>Otto Porter Jr. of the Chicago Bulls in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies on February 27.BRANDON DILL/ASSOCIATED PRESS</figcaption></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">5. Otto Porter Jr.</h4>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Small forward, Chicago Bulls</h5>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Wins Estimate Average: 2.8 (2.7, 3.2, 2.5)</li><li>Expected Salary: $8,296,400</li><li>Cap Figure: $26,011,913</li><li>Difference: $17,715,513</li></ul>



Porter, whom the Bulls acquired from the Wizards in February, is a good player, shooting .429 on 4.3 3-point attempts a game over the last three seasons. But he is more of a complementary piece, not the No. 1 option his contract would suggest. With a player option for 2020-21, the Bulls may be paying him $55,739,813 over the next two years. (Then again, who else are they going to spend their money on?)



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/1135593739/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="Gordon Hayward of the Boston Celtics in a game against the Washington Wizards on March 1."/><figcaption>Gordon Hayward of the Boston Celtics in a game against the Washington Wizards on March 1.MADDIE MEYER/GETTY IMAGES</figcaption></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">4. Gordon Hayward</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Small forward, Boston Celtics</h4>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Wins Estimate Average: 4.4 (3.2, 4.9, 5.1)</li><li>Expected Salary: $13,076,707</li><li>Cap Figure: $31,214,295</li><li>Difference: $18,137,588</li></ul>



Hayward is still scraping off the rust after returning this season from the leg injury he suffered in the 2017 season opener. If he can get back to the form he showed with the Jazz in 2016-17, this contract won&#8217;t be a problem. That season, he was worth 10.8 VORP wins, 10.4 Win Shares and 12.5 Wins Produced, for an average of 11.2. That translates to an expected salary of more than $33 million (using this season&#8217;s win value figure).



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/1137185898/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="Jabari Parker of the Washington Wizards falling in a game against the Bulls on March 20."/><figcaption>Jabari Parker of the Washington Wizards falling in a game against the Chicago Bulls on March 20.JONATHAN DANIEL/GETTY IMAGES</figcaption></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">3. Jabari Parker</h4>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Power forward, Washington Wizards</h5>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Wins Estimate Average: 0.5 (0, 1.4, 0.2)</li><li>Expected Salary: $1,580,267</li><li>Cap Figure: $20,000,000</li><li>Difference: $18,419,733</li></ul>



Parker ended up on the Wizards in the big-money swap for Otto Porter Jr. Parker, though, performed little better than a replacement-level player this season. In a particularly bad sign, his Defensive Win Shares figure exceeded his Offensive Win Shares figure with both of his 2018-19 teams—and this is not a player known for lock-down defense. The Wizards hold a club option for next season that they will almost certainly decline.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/1135211284/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="Harrison Barnes of the Sacramento Kings in a game against the Wizards on March 11."/><figcaption>Harrison Barnes of the Sacramento Kings in a game against the Washington Wizards on March 11.ROB CARR/GETTY IMAGES</figcaption></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">2. Harrison Barnes</h4>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Small forward, Sacramento Kings</h5>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Wins Estimate Average: 1.2 (0, 3.6, 0)</li><li>Expected Salary: $3,555,600</li><li>Cap Figure: $24,793,702</li><li>Difference: $21,238,102</li></ul>



Barnes is the fifth player on this list to have changed teams this season, joining the Kings from the Mavericks in a February trade that earned him a $686,444 kicker. His shooting percentages perked up after the move, and his Win Shares Per 48 Minutes figure rose to .084, from .059. But that won&#8217;t be enough to justify the $25,102,513 salary Sacramento will have to pay him next season if he exercises his player option. He would probably offer more value at power forward, but the Kings have a big-man logjam.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/2ae33c85441c46a09be85b171cd87703/960x0.jpg?fit=scale" alt="Andrew Wiggins looking to get past Portland Trail Blazers forward Jake Layman in December."/><figcaption>Andrew Wiggins looking to get past Portland Trail Blazers forward Jake Layman on December 8.STEVE DYKES/ASSOCIATED PRESS</figcaption></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">1. Andrew Wiggins</h4>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Small forward, Minnesota Timberwolves</h5>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Wins Estimate Average: 0.2 (0, 0.6, 0)</li><li>Expected Salary: $592,600</li><li>Cap Figure: $25,467,250</li><li>Difference: $24,874,650</li></ul>



Wiggins essentially played at a replacement level this season; his $592,600 expected salary is about $1 million lower than the minimum a player of his experience could have been paid. In fact, his VORP figure was -0.6, suggesting he actually cost his team about 1.6 wins relative to a replacement player. The really bad news: This was just the first year in a five-year extension, with his salary rising all the way to $33,616,770 for 2022-23.



-Brett Knight; Forbes Staff

Minnesota Timberwolves v Memphis Grizzlies

NBA’s Most Overpaid Players 2019: Wiggins, Jabari And 8 Others Who Underperformed

“I’m not a businessman—I’m a business, man,” Jay-Z famously rapped more than a decade ago. It’s a lesson that NBA superstars are taking to heart as they recognize their ability to call the shots on and off the court. 



The biggest stars, including LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, have set up companies to manage the opportunities in media, marketing and investing that come along with being global icons.



The NBA’s top 10 earners will make an estimated $540 million this year from salaries, endorsements, appearances, royalties and media pacts. 



The tally is up more than $180 million for hoops’ top earners from five years ago. James is the NBA’s highest-paid player for the fifth-straight year, with $88.7 million, including $53 million off the court. (Kobe Bryant was the last active basketball player to outearn King James.)



James, Curry and Durant are among the rare breed of players who make more off the court than on it. Endorsements provide the bulk of the off-court earnings for the trio. Shoe deals are the driving force, but these stars are increasingly pushing their personal brands into other areas.



James took control of his own marketing in 2006 when he launched what is now LRMR Ventures. A Hollywood production company, SpringHill Entertainment, followed in 2008. 



It has created TV shows like The Wall and Survivor’s Remorse and is working on remakes of the films House Party and Space Jam. James expanded his business empire with his digital media firm Uninterrupted in 2015. It got a boost via a $15.8 million investment from Time Warner the same year.



James has moved past the traditional endorsement model in many cases. He eschewed a $15 million <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/04/26/lebron-james-walked-away-from-15-million-in-endorsement-money-from-mcdonalds/1" target="_blank">renewal of his endorsement deal</a> with McDonald’s to double down on Blaze Pizza, where he is an investor and franchisee. 



He teamed up last year with Cindy Crawford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lindsey Vonn to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/lebron-james-other-celebrities-team-up-to-start-wellness-brand-ladder-1543320001" target="_blank">launch Ladder</a>, a health and wellness company, selling protein powders to start. James’ net worth is an <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2018/11/20/how-lebron-james-built-a-net-worth-of-450-million/#ea330656cfaa" target="_blank">estimated $450 million</a>.



<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/" target="_blank">-Kurt Badenhausen</a>Forbes Staff

Los Angeles Lakers v Philadelphia 76ers

The NBA’s Highest-Paid Players 2019: LeBron James Leads With $89 Million

It is a warm August day in Nairobi, Kenya, as I make my way to Emmanuel Jambo’s Emms photography studio to meet with two-time National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Luol Deng. As celebrated photographer Jambo shoots Deng, the basketball star strikes poses with his brother, Ajou, who is also a professional basketball player. Standing at a not-too-shabby 5ft10, I feel diminutive next to them. The atmosphere in the studio is vibrant and it is obvious that family is paramount to the Deng brothers. The jovial session continues for a while as he tells me “…I was always taken care of by my family… we are tight, there is a lot of joy and we are always laughing.”
Deng’s story is an inspirational one crisscrossing three continents. His journey began in South Sudan, where he was born 32 years ago. Tumultuous politics forced his family to flee to Alexandria, Egypt, when he was five years old.
Five years later, the exodus continued with the family being granted political asylum in London. These years saw a metamorphosis from a nonchalant happy go lucky child raised in Egypt into a quiet and intuitive pre-teen.
“I became more reserved and tried to figure out the new culture and language,” says Deng.
The move from Egypt to London led Luol to begin internalizing life lessons, and cultivating the level of drive and discipline that defines him today.
“My mum was working two jobs and, at the time, I didn’t know what they were, but all I noticed was her working and working. I told her that I never wanted to see her overworking again and made a commitment to save my bus fare, walk to school and find a job,” he recalls.
Deng propelled himself into gaining work experience. He secured a part-time job at a bakery, where he would sweep the floor at closing time for a meager wage. He put these small earnings into a small personal business where he bought tubes of sorbet and resold at a profit to his schoolmates. At the end of the week, he would hand his profits to his mother.
That work ethic is probably the reason he has been so successful in his basketball career. The current 2017-2018 season is Deng’s 14th year as an NBA player, having played with four of the association’s major teams.
<div id="attachment_35744" style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35744" class=" wp-image-35744" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Luol-Deng-suit-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="525" />Luol Deng (Photo by Emmanuel Jambo)</div>
His career began with the legendary Chicago Bulls, where he spent a decade before bouncing from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat and, in 2016, signed a four-year, $72-million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. This lucrative deal brings his reported career earnings to about $150 million.
Deng’s career has been blessed with highs as well as plagued by pitfalls. The All-Star is candid about his journey, and the challenges that have marked one of the most successful African NBA careers.
The story returns to his earlier memories in Egypt, where his elder brother participated in a short but crucial basketball training clinic run by the great Sudanese-born Manute Bol. His brother passed the lessons down.
“At a young age, say about seven, I started to play basketball and doing everyday drills that an NBA player taught my brother.”
Deng excelled in sports and at the age of 14 was awarded a scholarship to play basketball at Blair Academy in New Jersey, United States. He thrived at Blair and went on to attain yet another athletic scholarship, south of New Jersey, at Duke University in North Carolina. After a year at university, he decided to turn professional. It didn’t start as he’d hoped though. A wrist injury in his shooting hand saw him subjected to multiple doctor probes that eventually led to surgery.
“I had just turned 19, and one of the doctors I was seeing told me to start thinking of an alternative to basketball. Luckily the doctor that ended up doing the surgery assured me that though it would be a long road to recovery, there was hope.”
Fortunately, his recovery was faster than anticipated and he impressed on the court.
Three seasons later, he suffered another injury. This time the injury was both physical and emotional.
“I remember the media just destroying me as I kept missing games.”
Another series of doctor consults revealed a fractured tibia. This time he sought the holistic route and let his body heal naturally, rather than undergo a surgery that would have seen a metal rod placed in his right leg. The arduous trek to get a clean bill of health took almost a year and a half, and it paid off as Deng was announced as an All-Star the following year.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2015/05/01/basketball-bully-boys/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Basketball Bully Boys</a>
Conscious of his roots, Deng was sending a message to African youth across the globe. He galvanized the world’s attention. A young African man that had lived as a displaced refugee, overcame supposed career-ending injuries and rampant media scrutiny, stood in front of the world as one of the best players in the NBA.
“I felt the need to show where I am from.”
When his All-Star tracksuit came off, a t-shirt branded with an African map was revealed, violating the strict NBA uniform regulations. Aware of the repercussions he was to face from the league, Deng warned his coaches beforehand.
“I basically said, ‘coach, I don’t want to disrespect you but there is something I just have to do, I’m probably going to get fined but this is bigger than what they are going to fine me’,” he says.
“For me, this was my biggest moment because of what it meant to all these kids that were watching the All-Star game and that they got to see Africa put on the map… I am proud to be African.”
During his career, Deng has participated in the NBA and International Basketball Federation (FIBA) initiative, Basketball Without Borders (BWB). He credits the NBA Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, Amadou Gallo Fall, who he fondly refers to as “Godfather” for introducing him to this program. During off seasons, he and other NBA players visit Africa for a series of training workshops for selected youngsters. Some of these youngsters have received further training in the US and a few, such as Joel Embiid of Cameroon, are playing in the NBA.
The sport is taking off on the continent.
“Time and technology is really helping the game in Africa, in terms of people realizing that there is a lot of talent here that can compete at a high level,” says Deng.
<div id="attachment_35745" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35745" class=" wp-image-35745" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Luol-Deng-Lakers-300x234.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="390" />Luol Deng of the Los Angeles Lakers scores a basket over Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz during the basketball game at Staples Center December, 27 2016, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)</div>
In 2015, the first NBA exhibition game was played in Johannesburg, South Africa. The second match, also in Johannesburg, was played in July 2017 and plans are underway for more exhibition games to be played across the continent in the coming years.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2015/03/01/kenyan-hercules-stomping-states/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Kenyan Hercules Stomping The States</a>
Deng also does his part for Africa through the Luol Deng Foundation. The Deng Top 50 Camp takes place every year, where talented youth train and compete.
As Deng enters the twilight of his playing career, he has recently turned vegan and appears slim and fit. His plans for the future? Deng says he has no political ambition, but wants to help build “the Africa we want”.
“I am very pro-Africa and throughout the course of my career, through my foundation and other business endeavors, I have started a series of things and hopefully when I retire I will be able to tie in all the activities I am passionate about and help contribute to a better way of life in my homeland and Africa as a whole.” &#8211; Written by Laura Rwiliriza

The NBA Player Standing Tall For Africa

More than 30 African players are shooting baskets in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States and many more will soon be on their way.
Leading the hunt for talent is the towering figure of Amadou Gallo Fall, NBA Africa vice president for development in Africa, who is scouring the continent for the next Michael Jordan.
<div id="attachment_300" style="width: 216px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-300" class="size-medium wp-image-300" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/CTX7365-206x300.jpg" alt="" width="206" height="300" />Amadou Gallo Fall</div>
Fall has walked the winding road from Africa to the riches of the NBA. Born in Senegal, he was discovered by a Peace Corps worker and won a basketball scholarship to the United States. He played for the University of the District of Colombia in a 17-year career and also scouted for the Dallas Mavericks, who are the current NBA champions.
Six months ago, Fall set out for South Sudan, Africa’s newest country.
“We have a long-standing history with the country. The first NBA player from Africa to have had an impact on our league, who had a successful career and was well respected, was Manute Bol,” says Fall.
Bol was born in Turalei in South Sudan, where he grew up herding cattle. One of his most famed stories was how he once killed a lion with a spear to protect the herd.
Bol was literally someone to look up to as he stood 7ft 6ins tall and wore size 16 sneakers. He emigrated to the United States in 1982 and joined the Washington Bullets in 1985. He became not only the tallest player in the NBA, but the best shot blocker in the game. In retirement, Bol used to return often to South Sudan in a bid to heal the country after its civil war. Sadly, he died in Charlottesville, Virginia, in June 2010, aged 47, less than a year before his country assumed its statehood. He died of kidney disease caused by the complication of a rare skin complaint.
The Bol legacy survives in South Sudan, as does the basketball court where he shot his first ever basket, but there are precious few places where the young can embark on their hoop dreams.
Despite the lack of basketball courts, Fall believes the land is awash with fresh talent.
“The interest in the sport is definitely there and there is a fan base. We also need to develop the local expertise,” he says.
The question is: could the next Michael Jordan—or Manute Bol—spring from Juba?
“We want kids in Juba to aspire to reach for the highest level based on their potential. If we remain consistent in our engagement in South Sudan, develop infrastructure and build capacity by training coaches, there is no doubt that elite players will emerge but we are excited about the opportunity to use the game to impact on communities at large,” says Fall.
There is the NBA Cares program, which, since 2005, has spent over $150 million building more than 500 places where youngsters can play. Thirty-five of these are in Africa.
In Africa, it runs basketball clinics for youngsters between the ages of seven and 19.
<div id="attachment_299" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-299" class="wp-image-299 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/52952546.jpg.-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />The long and short of it; Manute Bol #10 of the Washington Bullets waits for the action to begin during the NBA game at the Capital Centre circa 1988 in Baltimore, Maryland</div>
In the hunt for talent, Basketball Without Borders, held in Johannesburg this year, remains its flagship grassroots event on the continent. It brings together young basketball players from across Africa. One of the many programs set up since the NBA opened an office in Johannesburg in May 2010, with the hope of riding the sports wave created by the FIFA World Cup.
“Within the first 12 months, we signed a unique partnership with the Royal Bafokeng Nation that is making a real impact in the region in terms of the number of coaches and players whom we have actively helped. This is a good example of how we are impacting the game on a very local level, working with the community, building courts and providing playing opportunities,” Fall says.
South Africa is seen as a happy hunting ground for the NBA and Fall has big plans. He sees an opportunity to host NBA games here in future and talks of plans to set up a university league.
Television would be part of these plans and it appears the small screen is already helping spread the game of basketball in Africa.
NBA games, featuring 10 players from Africa, were broadcast to 55 African countries and territories, in five languages, during the 2010-11 season.
“In Africa there is tremendous potential for growth, but investment in the sport is crucial in order to tackle the accessibility issue and the scarcity of local coaching expertise. Given the huge athletic potential, there is no doubt that as the game grows, the business will grow too.
With the NBA having so many players from the continent it is a clear indication that talent exists in abundance,” says Fall.
Whilst South Sudan appears to be an incubator for talent, according to Fall, he is careful to also nod to Nigeria, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We definitely think South Sudan is up there too,” he smiles.
Bul Bior, from South Sudan, was at the basketball get-together in Johannesburg this year. With hard work and a little luck, maybe he could be the next Michael Jordan or Manute Bol.

Tag: NBA