By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Carmelo Anthony thinks the NBA should rebrand the D-League and invest more in developing its own players in the next collective bargaining agreement.
“If I had it my way, I’d rebrand the whole D-League,” Anthony admitted on ESPN. “I’d rebrand it so it’s not seen as a punishment.”
Anthony has been addressing increasing pay for D-League players to make it as lucrative to play domestically as abroad (meaning Europe and China), and language that will encourage all 30 NBA teams to have a D-League affiliate.
“I’m a big advocate of developing our own players. If you look at soccer, for example, a lot of those clubs have top-notch academies,” said Anthony, who co-owns a team in Puerto Rico. “By me being in soccer now, I’ve started to understand the dynamics of developing your own players. We’ve got to keep our players here. We don’t want them to have to go overseas.”