Do D-League teams do enough to market their players?

by warriorsvictim on May 14, 2025 3:16 PM EDT Comment 10 comments

Promoted from the Fanposts. I left my opinion... What's yours? -- Scott

I have heard very little to nothing about D-League teams having someone on staff who markets their players to NBA teams to help them get a chance to play.

This could be the result of a lack of interest from the media or the fact that teams expect players to have an agent handle the task, but I thought I would put it out there to the Ridiculous Upside crew anyway for comment.

If I was a team owner, I would have someone on staff who is pushing to get my players in the news, in front of NBA coaches, maybe even in front of European coaches. The more players you successfully send up, the more people will become aware of your team and league. I would hope this would increase the fan base in addition to giving more deserving players a shot.

As mentioned in another post, opportunity seems to be the one primary factor in a role player getting a shot in the NBA. Sometimes, you have to create that opportunity off the court, not on it.

This is a FanPost, not the work of the author of Ridiculous Upside. The People speak! Questions or comments about this post should be addressed in the comments. To issue a complaint about this FanPost, please email ridiculousupside (at) gmail (dot) com.

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It's a flawed system

To make the D-League work, the NBA should actually be the ones to market the D-League better. The D-League has limited resources. The NBA’s… Not so much.

The individual D-League teams PR people do work hard, but it’s more pushing the teams themselves rather than individual players, as the players are ever-changing. Plus, in Bismarck, North Dakota, more people aren’t going to come to the games if their best player just got a call-up.

I’d put the onus on either the D-League or NBA PR staffs themselves. Instead of promoting former D-League players and NBA players on assignment (Sun Yue), they should emphasize the players still hoping to get their shot.

Great fanpost though.

Blogging at RidiculousUpside, where we converse with recently fired mascots.

by Scott Schroeder on May 14, 2025 3:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Its tough

Its tough to market guys when they could easily leave for Europe or another situation the next day. They should be marketing their best players more though and even NBA players on assignment.

by stneff70 on May 14, 2025 6:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I dunno

It seems to me, the people in cities like Bismarck, Sioux Falls, etc., the smaller markets, they don’t really care who is playing.

The teams that have been around for awhile, when they’ve seen at least 250 players in and out with few sticking around for long, they’re more worried about team performance as opposed to individual players.

I’m sticking with the point that the NBA and D-League should market individual players while the teams focus on the team first, rather than entering their marketing campaign around a guy that might be in town for a week.

Blogging at RidiculousUpside, where we converse with recently fired mascots.

by Scott Schroeder on May 14, 2025 6:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not their job

It’s not the job of D-League teams to market their players to NBA teams. If you look at the front offices of NBA teams they have 10-20 people on the basketball operation side of things. They have so many scouts/coaches/evaluators that they know who is out there ~~- especially in the D~~ League. If you go to D-League games throughout the season you will see representatives from various NBA teams at the game.

Scott is spot on when he said fans care more about performance or winning than they do players. The only time fans really care about players is if they went to a local college. Players come and go in this league and when you are already working with limited budgets — why spend all this time and money to market a player?

The NBA needs to market the D-League as a whole. People never talk about the D-League as the official minor league of the NBA. One way to start is by not calling it the “D-League”…

by Invasion Fan on May 14, 2025 9:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't like your last argument

I see nothing wrong with it being called the D-League. Is there a name that isn’t gimmicky that would work?

I think fans do like when NBA players are assigned as well, but it doesn’t really make sense to do extra marketing for these players. If an NBA player is playing in Bismarck, the media will pick up on it, quickly.

Other than that, we agree.

Blogging at RidiculousUpside, where we converse with recently fired mascots.

by Scott Schroeder on May 14, 2025 10:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sounds bad

I think it just automatically gives the league/name a bad conotation. The NBA tried to get rid of the league being called NBDL a couple years ago and tried to stress the “NBA” so people would make the connection. Those who don’t really know anything about the D- League always ask who’s in the “A” league? I think that comes from the familiarity of the baseball minor league system. If the NBA is going to keep it D- League then they need to start stressing and marketing how high of a level this league really is! This league is higher than AAA baseball but it doesn’t appear that way to the general public. You never hear about it!

by Invasion Fan on May 14, 2025 11:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

So...

AAAA League? What do you suggest?

Blogging at RidiculousUpside, where we converse with recently fired mascots.

by Scott Schroeder on May 14, 2025 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

not sure

I haven’t liked it from day one but just don’t know what to change it too. There’s gotta be something out there though. That’s why I’m fine with the name staying the same but then the NBA needs to market the D- League as the official minor league of the NBA.

I’m a cubs fan… When I watch games on WGN or regional tv they talk about their farm teams. When you watch NBA games you hear nothing! If they NBA started communicating this with NBA teams they would do it.

by Invasion Fan on May 14, 2025 11:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It's an odd system

The NBA controls the D-League, and ir order for it to succeed there need to be more players called up and given the chance to succeed so that future players see it as a viable option (*cough*John Wall*cough*). But, I don’t know that the NBA wants to be in a position where they’re pressuring teams to call D-League guys up, and the NBA players union sees it in their best interest to have retreads get contract after contract (well, maybe not in their best interest exactly, but those are they guys who are union members).

All that said, if an NBA team is doing its job, D-League teams won’t need to market their players because the NBA team will already have had scouts at games and know who can play and who can’t.

Now writing for Ridiculous Upside, where we think the Nuggets should play Sonny Weems more.

by Jon L on May 15, 2025 7:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

There isnt enough room on a roster to call up more players

I agree the NBA needs to take a big step towards including the D League, and this has to start with adding one more place on the team roster (16) for a rotation of D League players.

This way NBA teams can call up players as often as they want or hold onto a guy for a little longer without having to waive or send down another player in his place. I’m sure this has CBA restrictions, but I would hope this comes up next bargaining period.

I also agree with the idea that the name has to be changed. MBL has set the standard so we might as well follow their naming system and call it the “Farm” League or “Triple A Basketball” something. Fans will have a better idea of the level of play in the league.

by warriorsvictim on May 19, 2025 4:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs