The NBA Development League

By Nathaniel Kelliehan (High School of Sports Management)

I never paid much attention to the NBA Development League because I barely knew about it until about a year and a half ago. However, after meeting with Dan Reed, Chris Lauten and Darius Taylor, I learned that the D-League is actually pretty cool. I really didn’t understand the purpose of the NBA Development League, but at the meeting I learned that the D-League is in existence to help players coming out of college who may not be the best, or haven’t had the most experience. The NBA Development League accepts those players and gives them an opportunity to be called up by an NBA team or have success in their own league.

Meeting with Dan Reed, Chris Lauten and Darius Taylor was very inspiring because each one of them shared information about their background and how they got to where they were, which in return helped them bring something great to the NBA Development League. The President of the NBA Development League, Dan Reed told us how he graduated from Northwestern and Harvard Business School while also saying he was an intern every year in college. Mr. Reed also gave us some background on the NBA D-League, which he has been a president of for the last 2 years. He told us that 20% of NBA Development League players get called-up to the NBA, also adding that there would be two new teams (Maine Red Claws & Springfield Armor) this upcoming season. Chris Lauten, the NBA Development League Coordinator of Basketball Operations was the most interesting to me. He graduated from Duke University (which is where I want to go), where he worked as a student manager for Coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Basketball team for 5 years. I really learned a lot from him because I never thought the NBA Development League had a draft, scouted players overseas, or even dealt with free agency issues. He also told us something that I wasn’t sure of until then, which was that a player can be called up to any NBA team after their first two years of playing in the NBA Development League. Finally, we heard from Darius Taylor, the Manager of Community & Player Programs who shared all the things he does for the players. He stated that 50% of D-League players don’t have their degree, and how he works with them so they can receive their degree. He also stated that he talks to the players on drug abuse, alcohol, sexual abuse, and etc. Mr. Taylor’s experience interning with the Big-10 Conference, coaching Temple’s women’s basketball team for 4 years, and Manager of USA Basketball really intrigued me because he has done so much and you would’ve thought he’d be in the NBA by now.

In conclusion, meeting with Dan Reed, Chris Lauten and Darius Taylor really helped me start to take notice in the NBA Development League. I think I’ll start watching some of the games because I understand it more, and have an interest in it now. My goal is to one day work in the NBA and that goal will always be #1, but if I could start working in the NBA Development League first, it can have great effects. They do almost everything that the NBA does, so my time and experience will pay dividends.