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Tensions between WNBA players and the league hit a tipping point at the end of the most recent season after commissioner Cathy Engelbert found herself at the center of a brewing rebellion. Now, things have taken another interesting turn after the longtime friend and business partner of LeBron James revealed he’s abandoned his plans to build a league to take on the NBA for another targeting its growing counterpart.
Over the summer, Nikola Jokic’s agent managed to cause a bit of a stir when he posted a picture of the Nuggets star chilling on a yacht on the coast of France alongside LeBron James and Maverick Carter, the Ohio native who grew up with the basketball legend who made a name for himself in Akron before cementing himself as one of the best NBA players of all time.
There was initially some speculation the photo was teasing the possibility of LeBron joining forces with Jokic on the court, but we eventually learned the meeting was connected to Carter’s efforts to raise funds for an upstart league that was seeking a $5 billion injection in an attempt to go toe-to-toe with the NBA.
It’s a bit hard to imagine there’s any organization that’s capable of giving the NBA a serious run for its money. However, would appear to be plenty of investors with more dough than they know what to do with who are happy to try to defy those odds based on a lengthy report Brian Windhorst penned for ESPN concerning the multiple entities in the Middle East that are gearing up to do exactly that.
The article primarily focuses on how wealthy people in the region are currently cultivating a relationship with the NBA. However, it also concerns an interesting tidbit concerning the burgeoning organization known as “Project B,” one that Carter left behind before turning his attention to another venture that’s particularly intriguing due to some recent developments in the WNBA.
Maverick Carter is gearing up to launch a new league that could pose a serious threat to the WNBA
The WNBA has experienced a massive spike in popularity in recent years, and it’s grappling with plenty of growing pains that can be traced back to issues it was dealing with well before the current generation of stars helped it reach unprecedented heights.
The league still has plenty of work to do when it comes to addressing the underwhelming salaries that have become an increasingly sore point of contention as ratings and revenue have begun to rise. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert also found herself dealing with a new headache after Napheesa Collier dragged her leadership abilities while calling out the subpar officiating that became a hot topic of discussion during the most recent season.
A number of notable players echoed Collier’s sentiments, and it does not seem like a lockout is out of the question as they continue to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the league with the current one set to expire on October 31st.
That brings us back to the aforementioned article, which notes Carter is no longer involved with Project B in an official capacity after stepping down from his role as an advisor in favor of a new venture, described as “a women’s basketball league to rival the WNBA.”
There aren’t many details concerning that project, but Carter has seemingly picked the perfect time to tackle it when you consider the WNBA is currently dealing with its fair share of turmoil.
Its players will undoubtedly be able to use a potential rival as a bargaining chip in CBA negotiations, but it would also be infinitely easier for a new league to poach a few key superstars capable of making it a legitimate challenger to the WNBA virtually overnight compared to another attempting to do the same with the NBA.
That obviously hinges on the ability to get the funding needed to offer the kind of salaries that would make it hard for WNBA players to turn them down, but this will certainly be a very interesting situation to keep an eye on.