LeBron James and Kevin Durant back a new 12-team league for the top U18 players

A new league for the best under-18 boys basketball players in the country launched Tuesday, and LeBron James and Kevin Durant are among its owners. The Futures Basketball League announced itself in a press release on Nov. 10, and Front Office Sports had the news first.

How it works

The league plans 12 regional teams and 120 players from the high school classes of 2028 through 2031. The first season runs from April through August 2027, with 10 weekends of live events in major U.S. markets and a national championship weekend at the end. The league says every game will be streamed or carried on national TV, and the calendar is built to stay clear of the high school season, NCAA live periods, USA Basketball events and the NBPA Top 100 Camp.

Players won't draw a salary. They can earn NIL compensation instead and take it as cash, league equity (subject to administrative approvals) or a mix of the two. They stay free to sign their own deals with shoe companies and other sponsors. Chairman Jason Stein told Sports Business Journal that the league and its teams won't pay athletes directly so their NCAA eligibility is protected, and that NIL deals will run through the College Sports Commission to check fair market value. The league says it has already signed prospects in all four classes and will name its first players in the coming weeks.

Who owns it

The founding owners include LRMR Ventures (James and Maverick Carter), Boardroom Sports Holdings (Durant and Rich Kleiman), Derrick Rose, Magic forward Paolo Banchero, Gary Vaynerchuk and Ryan Harwood, Ezra Kucharz, and SC Holdings co-founders Stein and Daniel Haimovic. Sports Business Journal reported that teams sold so far went for $6 million each, with owners also getting equity in the league, and that the project is seeded with "tens of millions of dollars" between investment and team sales.

MADE Hoops, the grassroots platform backed by Durant and LRMR, is the operations partner. Brooklyn's HMBL Development will run player training. Former ESPN content chief Connor Schell, a co-creator of 30 for 30, is a special advisor on production and distribution. The league also pledged $1 million to the MADE For All Foundation.

What to watch

The league says the first player signings, team markets, the full schedule, media partners and sponsors will all be announced in the coming weeks. The names on that first signing list will show quickly whether the top recruits in these classes are willing to trade their spring and summer travel circuits for this one.