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Project B—a new global basketball league—officially announced its plans in October to host tournaments across Asia, Europe, and Latin America beginning in November 2026 and running through April 2027. On Friday the league, founded by former Facebook executive Grady Burnett and Skype cofounder Geoff Prentice, announced that it had signed Seattle Storm star—and WNBPA president—Nneka Ogwumike as its first player. Other WNBA players have already signed deals to play in Project B, multiple sources told Front Office Sports. Those same sources said multiple stars are being offered seven-figure salaries starting at $2 million annually, with their earnings for multiyear deals reaching eight figures. In addition, players will receive equity in the league, similar to Unrivaled.
Maverick Carter is no longer involved with the planned international basketball league that aims to disrupt the sport, multiple sources told Front Office Sports. “Project B,” as it has been called behind the scenes for nearly two years, still plans to launch next fall with 5-on-5 men’s and women’s basketball leagues. Led by Skype cofounder Geoff Prentice and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, the investor group also includes tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Sloane Stephens; former WNBA stars Candace Parker, Alana Beard, and Lauren Jackson; and ex-NFL quarterback Steve Young. The group would not yet disclose the official name for the planned league.
So what's the league about? Early discussions are of a touring model with six men’s and six women’s teams playing in eight cities, none of which is likely to be in the United States. Investors include the Singapore government, SC Holdings, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, a Macau casino operator, UBS, Skype founder Geoff Prentice and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, according to the Financial Times. Reports have linked VC firm Quiet Capital, tech investor Byron Deeter and Hong Kong-based Galaxy Entertainment to the effort.
Is basketball about to face its LIV Golf moment? Perhaps, in the form of a new start-up contest brewing under the direction of Maverick Carter, the sports marketing guru and business partner of LeBron James. It is still very early days. The group has no name, no headquarters and no launch date. It only has around 30 employees, and is still in the process of raising money. UBS is running a funding round with a target of $5bn. But it has some wealthy backers, including Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice. And now it is beginning to reel in some strategic partners.
Brian Moritz: Back in my first year at teaching SUNY Oswego, I asked Woj if he would be willing to guest speak to my sports writing class. I have a lot of guest speakers and figured he (like most) would Skype into class. Woj didn’t Skype in. He flew from Florida (where he was on assignment) to Syracuse and drove to Oswego, on his own dime, to spend the day with my students. At one point in my sports journalism class, he got a call on from a source with the Memphis Grizzlies. Not breaking news, just the kind of check ins that make Woj the best reporter on the beat. He answered the call in class, told him where he was. “Tell them we’re trading Gasol,” he said his source told him. My students learned more from Woj that one day then they probably did the rest of the semester from me.
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Aaron Rose: Sergio Scariolo had a second round of interviews with the Raptors on Monday via Skype, according to reporting from La Repubblica Bologna. The team will reportedly make a final decision within a week.
Farbod Esnaashari: Montrezl Harrell mentioned his quarantine workouts on the NBA2K broadcast: "We haven't found a gym, but we've been working out via Skype. We've been doing stuff with our strengthen & conditioning coach. No gym [for basketball]."
Los Angeles native Russell Westbrook joined Good Morning America via Skype from his home to discuss how he and his wife Nina have joined forces with Mayor Eric Garcetti's office through their Why Not? Foundation to launch the Angeleno Campaign. "[I'm] finding ways to be able to bring all of us together, and if that's the push-up challenge with your kid on your back, I think we should all try it and kind of see what happens," he said with a laugh. "My son's pretty big and pretty heavy, but we managed it."
Jon Rothstein: Sources: Several NBA teams are preparing to make their selections for the 2020 NBA Draft based on Skype interviews and prior in-person scouting. Many are moving forward with the expectation of no combine, no workouts, and no in-person interviews.
But, Cliff Alexander says, technology has helped make the life of an American professional in Europe much easier. (This is an improvement from the years before smartphones and Skype — players kept in touch with family via the phone and missed out on the video aspect of contact.) Alexander’s daughter is old enough to know who he is and calls him “Dada.” She talks to him through FaceTime and visited him in November with help from the club. “It just motivates me more over here,” says Alexander, who plays for Le Mans in France. “It makes me want to go all in on this. As long as she knows and I know that I’m over here trying to provide for her, it’s OK.”
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Rob Perez left Fox, ironically pivoting to video, and joined Cycle in April. The first season of Buckets was launched the next month. Meanwhile, Perez and Cassidy Hubbarth met on Twitter, and Perez slid into her direct messages “totally, head first,” he said, bonding over their shared love of the NBA. She became a fan of Buckets and eventually joined the show via Skype as a season one guest. ”When I went on Buckets last year, I was blown away by just the production value and the interactivity of it,” Hubbarth said. “I was on the show but I was also watching and being like what is happening!? I consume a lot of media, and the fact that he kind of put me on the back of my heels, like this is something new here, made me an even bigger fan.”
Rob Perez is constantly watching games and brainstorming content ideas for the twice-weekly show, which comes out on different days of the week to cater to Cassidy Hubbarth’s ESPN travel schedule. Usually there’s a guest who they go shoot an interview with, whether via Skype like Buss and Indiana Pacers disruptor Lance Stephenson, or a taped on-site segment like they did with Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith. As the editors and production team works on that, Perez begins to mold the show from an outside-the-box lens, emailing and conference-calling with Hubbarth and translating crazy concepts from paper to try to make a TV show out of it. The ultimate goal of Buckets? “To educate and entertain an audience that didn’t know things were happening that actually are,” Perez said. “To bring a new angle to the game, give them a new reason to watch.”
