G League Ignite program will not continue past this season

The league made the announcement Thursday, saying it was shutting down the Henderson, Nevada-based Ignite because of “the changing basketball landscape, including the NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policy and the advent of collectives and the transfer portal” as its primary reasons.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver suggested this could happen last month at the All-Star Game, saying then that the league was “reassessing” the Ignite program. It was started by the NBA to give players who aren’t yet eligible for the draft — but who didn’t want to go to college — a chance to essentially play professional basketball and prepare for the draft as part of a developmental but still competitive program.

“Four years ago, we started Ignite to fill a void in the basketball landscape, and I’m proud of the contributions we were able to make to that ecosystem,” G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim said. “With the changing environment across youth and collegiate basketball, now is the right time to take this step.”