“You’re Hurting His Development”: LeBron James’ Former Teammate’s Critical Take On NBA Franchises Not Allowing Young Stars To Play in the Summer League

The NBA G League has found some amazing talent over the years. However, the criticism is that teams don’t allow young stars in the team to play in the summer league in order to avoid injuries. And a former teammate of LeBron James has come out and given critical comments about teams not letting their young players play.

Richard Jefferson, LeBron’s teammate during his second stint in Cleveland Cavaliers, has been very vocal about letting players in the summer league. Teams generally give players the option to sit out of the summer league and many young stars don’t play.

This reduces the chances of injury before the start of the season and gives them more rest. But sometimes, a few players need experience before playing in the NBA.

Jefferson, a former teammate of LeBron James thinks players should want to play in the summer league

Richard Jefferson was on the Road Trippin podcast where he talked about players taking summer league off. Summer league is a place where draft picks and G-League players come to Las Vegas and showcase their talent.

The top players in the league are noted and are given a chance to play in the NBA. But a few players after their first or second year tend to take off during this time. And this did not go down well with Jefferson.

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He said,” If you have a veteran guy like Green (Jalen Green), maybe you have him only play 3 games. Hey, now you got 3 games of playing with your future teammates. You want to lead this towards wins, in the future and the sooner you can speed up the process, that was it.”

“I truly think teams make it seem like 19-year-old, 20-year-old should choose whether or not they should go to summer league. And as a team, you’re choosing not to send your player to summer league. After the first couple of years, you’re hurting his development.” 

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Teams rarely have high draft picks play in the summer league. And even if they do, it’s generally for a few games in their first year. It’s rare for a second or third-year player to go back to the summer league to improve his game. And this is the circumstance of teams letting the players choose.