Futures Basketball League Launches Behind Bevy Of Big Names

A parade of big names from the business and sports worlds are joining forces in an effort transform the American hoops developmental model.

The Futures Basketball League announced it will launch next spring, aiming to overhaul the fragmented world of travel hoops and “combine the best of Europe’s club academies and America’s top college and pro programs — elite coaching, strength and plyometrics training, recovery and sports science, mentorship and education — inside a competitive league.”

The roster of marquee backers is headlined by NBA stars Kevin Durant and LeBron James; other big names involved include Paolo Banchero, Maverick Carter, Ryan Harwood, Rich Kleiman, Ezra Kucharz, Derrick Rose and Gary Vaynerchuk.

“It really comes from a genuine place of how can we make the American basketball system better for everyone in it,” FBL co-founder and chairman Jason Stein told Buying Sandlot. “And we think that starts top down, based on our experience, with these elite players.”

April-to-August season
Top 120 players in 2028-31 classes
12 regional teams across U.S.
NIL compensation for athletes
Sneaker company agnostic
HMBL Development will lead player development

Stein said FBL’s main innovation is bringing together all elite prospects on one platform that focuses on development and empowerment, rather than the current landscape of myriad circuits backed by competing sneaker brands. Stein pointed to the drought of domestic-born NBA MVPs as proof change is needed.

There will be educational programming for athletes and families through the league, but Stein said there are no plans to establish school curriculum or academies.

“We did not want to interrupt the scholastic experience,” he said. “We want kids to have the experience of going to high school, being with their friends and families, being big man on campus. I think aggregating all these players in the spring-summer season is a game changer. It’s never happened before.

“Right now you have the top kids playing on 200 different teams in seven different circuits and not playing each other. There’s very little focus in the current system on player development, strength and conditioning, college preparation, media training, financial literacy. These are not only things that will have huge impacts for these athletes on the court, but off the court as well as they go forward.”

FBL will partner with grassroots basketball platform MADE Hoops; its games will be played at MADE events nationwide alongside its other competitions. FBL has also pledged $1M to the MADE For All Foundation to fund community initiatives and scholarships to expand access.

Stein’s SC Holdings — which is financially backing FBL — led MADE’s first outside capital round in 2025 alongside LRMR Ventures, the family office of Carter and James.

Durant and Kleiman (Boardroom Sports Holdings) and Banchero are also investors in MADE. Carter, Kleiman and Stein are on FBL’s board of directors, as is SC Holdings’ Daniel Haimovic.

Media rights are another topic focus. Stein said seeing future college and pro stars compete when they are young is akin to “watching lightning in a bottle.” He believes the FBL product and its positioning during a traditionally slow time of year will be attractive.

“I spend so much time watching 12-year-olds play baseball on ESPN in August, and I absolutely love it,” Stein said, referring to the Little League World Series.

“If there is that much interest in 12-year-olds playing baseball, then there has to be at least the same, if not significantly more interest, in a 16-year-old Cooper Flagg playing a 15-year-old A.J. Dybantsa, right? I think it’s going to be an incredible entertainment property.”