Junior Basketball Association

Junior Basketball Association
Most recent season or competition:
2018 JBA season
Official logo featuring Lonzo Ball
SportBasketball
FoundedDecember 20, 2017; 6 years ago (2017-12-20)
FounderLaVar Ball
First season2018
Ceased2019
DirectorLaVar Ball
CommissionerLaVar Ball
No. of teams8
CountryUnited States
HeadquartersLos Angeles, CA
Last
champion(s)
Los Angeles Ballers
(2018)
TV partner(s)Facebook Watch
Sponsor(s)Big Baller Brand
Official websitehttps://www.jbaleagueofficial.com/

The Junior Basketball Association (JBA) was an American basketball league that intended to be an alternative to the NCAA by allowing high school and junior college players to immediately play professionally. The league was first announced in December 2017 by LaVar Ball and was said to be fully funded by Ball's sports apparel company, Big Baller Brand. The JBA existed for just one season in 2018, featuring eight teams from major US cities.

While the league has not formally folded, no future seasons have been announced. The JBA faced criticism from within for failing to honor its contracts and pay its players and is widely seen as having been created solely as a platform for LaVar Ball's sons, disregarding the futures and livelihoods of the sixty other players in the competition.[1] With the discontinuation of the league, former JBA players were left without a job and their brief $3,000 per month income removed their eligibility for NCAA basketball scholarships.[2]

  1. ^ "Report: JBA failed to pay players, honor contracts of Team USA". 20 September 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Phillips was invoked but never defined (see the help page).