Ben Strauss Nov 10, 2026, 11:06 AM ET A new league backed by LeBron James and Kevin Durant announced plans to launch in April 2027, targeting the top 120 under-18 players in the country. The Futures League aims to replace the patchwork of summer tournaments and travel leagues, many run by shoe companies, with a unified professional structure. Jason Stein, league chairman and co-founder, stated the current system is unfair, noting the top 150 under-18 players compete on over 200 teams across seven different leagues.
Players will be paid through NIL deals while maintaining college and high school eligibility. The league combines the television appeal of the Little League World Series, the in-person excitement of the And1 Live Tour, and the player development emphasis of European youth academies. Investors include LRMR (James and Maverick Carter), Boardroom Sports Holdings (Durant and Rich Kleinman), and team owners Derrick Rose, Paolo Banchero, and Gary Vaynerchuk.
Each of the 12 regional teams will recruit within their territory, with players contracted and paid by the league. The buy-in price for a team is $6 million. The league declined to disclose specific NIL deal payments, though Rose called the amounts "life changing." Former NBA star Derrick Rose, an investor and Chicago team operator, is building a financial literacy program with Northern Trust.
Tom Farrey of the Aspen Institute criticized the current system for monetizing youth athletes without adhering to development principles. Stein links the lack of structure to the absence of an American-born NBA MVP since 2018.
Source: ESPN NBA · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing