ORLANDO, FL - FEBRUARY 10: Jalen Green #4 of Team Ignite dunks the ball against the Santa Cruz Warriors on February 10, 2021 at AdventHealth Arena in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2021 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
While the NBA season has been going on for almost two months now, the NBA G League finally tipped off its long-awaited season Wednesday. This season is different for the G League for a number of reasons—it’s being played in a bubble in Orlando and the season runs through March 11, including playoffs—but the most interesting one is the introduction of a new team, NBA G League Ignite.
The Ignite squad is the first of its kind and will certainly be the team that generates the most interest not only this year, especially after Jalen Green decided to skip college and play in the G League, but as long as it exists. Here’s what you need to know about the squad you’ll probably be hearing a bunch about:
The Basics
The G League Ignite team is a mixture of prospects, veterans with NBA experience, and younger guys that are searching for their first, or in some cases next, NBA chance. None of the players on G League Ignite are tied to any NBA teams at this time. The players that are not prospects (we’ll get into that) are eligible to be signed at any time by any NBA franchise. The team was created as an alternative to college basketball for highly ranked high school players so that they had an option to make money playing basketball, accept endorsement deals, and undergo professional training while still living in the United States and being mentored by former NBA players and playing against a high level of competition.
The Roster
This is what you’re here to see. The G League Ignite has six prospects on the roster, headlined by Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga (pictured above). Both those guys are currently projected to be top-five selections in the 2021 NBA Draft. Green was the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2020 high school graduating class (according to 24/7 Sports), and after Kuminga reclassified from 2021 to 2020, he was ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the country.
Green was the first one to commit to the team, sending a bit of shock through the high school basketball community. When he signed with the G League, it was reported that he would earn $500,000 for the season.
Green and Kuminga have been joined by four other potential future NBA players, including five-star prospects Daishen Nix and Isaiah Todd, as well as Princepal Singh of India. Singh is the first graduate of the NBA Academy in India to sign a professional contract. Kai Sotto of the Philippines also is on the roster, but has opted out of the start of the G League bubble in order to play on the Philippine National Team.
In the Ignite’s first game, Singh was the only one of the prospects that did not see the court against the Santa Cruz Warriors. Todd and Nix both came off the bench for Ignite, while Kuminga and Green were in the starting lineup. Kuminga may have been the best player on the floor in the game, despite his struggles shooting the ball from the outside. He finished with 19 points on 9-of-18 shooting, with four assists, including a beautiful 25-foot bounce pass to Green for a dunk in transition.
Jonathan Kuminga with the bounce pass to Jalen Green for the dunk! @nbagleague | #NextIsNow pic.twitter.com/dzYrl0yZMi
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) February 10, 2021
And then he finished the game strong with a block that shut the door on any hopes Santa Cruz had of a comeback.
And this is how Jonathan Kuminga finishes his debut...with a game clinching block.
Incredible performance today. pic.twitter.com/M2IAkmkWXX
— Aram Cannuscio (@AC__Hoops) February 10, 2021
Green showed promise too, despite less than stellar numbers with 11 points on 4-of-10 from the floor in his first professional action. Todd, Nix, and Singh all could make it in the NBA, but Kuminga and Green are the guys on this roster that have the potential to be stars in the league for a long time. Teams are going to be watching the Ignite play very closely, and those two guys are the reason why.
The Veterans
While everyone is going to watch Ignite games to see the guys with bright NBA futures, there are a few guys on the court there to guide them on their journey. While Jarret Jack, Amir Johnson, and Bruce Brown haven’t stopped working towards their own potential NBA futures, these veterans are around to help out the likes of Kuminga and Green. Jack, 37, entered the NBA in 2005 and hasn’t played in a regular-season game since 2018 is still hoping to make an NBA comeback. Johnson and Brown are similarly still trying to show NBA teams that they’re ready to be on the court at the highest level.
The Coach
Along with the type of mentorship that NBA veterans like Jack, Johnson, and Brown can provide, the Ignite a coached by a guy in Brian Shaw that has quite the championship pedigree. While the prospects on this team are all too young to remember him as a player winning three NBA titles with the Lakers back in the early 2000s, he did spend a lot of time in his playing and coaching career around the late Kobe Bryant, which will immediately draw the respect and ears of the aspiring basketball stars.
Shaw played 14 seasons in the NBA in Los Angeles, Boston, Miami, Orlando, Golden State, Philadelphia, and Portland before entering the coaching ranks in 2005 as an assistant with the Lakers. He’s a guy that’s been around the game of basketball his entire life and should know exactly what it takes to help the prospects make the jump to the professional ranks.
The Bubble
Like so many things over the last 12 months, it will not be business as usual for the G League—or at least how they would have liked. Originally, the Ignite were only supposed to play between 10-12 games, not participating in a full G League season, but with the G League condensing everything into a bubble in Orlando, Florida, the Ignite will be playing a full 15-game slate, with their first game resulting in a win against the Santa Cruz Warriors.