The new pro league Overtime Elite is luring young phenoms with hefty salaries, viral success and — perhaps — a better path to the N.B.A.

By Bruce Schoenfeld @ NYTimes.com, Nov. 30

[....] In July, he signed a contract with Overtime Elite, a fledgling league for teenagers with N.B.A. aspirations. Instead of studying for the SAT on the last Friday in October, he was inside a new 1,200-seat arena in midtown Atlanta, where Overtime Elite is based, with eight teammates from around the United States and overseas. As rap music pulsed and video screens flashed on all four walls, he burst through a curtain of smoke. The din was disorienting. The scene was like a video game come to life.

While warming up on the court, Lewis briefly scanned the seats for celebrities who had promised to be there, including the rapper 2 Chainz and the N.B.A. legend Julius Erving. Neither was in the building, but the plush couches that served as V.I.P. seating under each basket were filled with local prep and college basketball players, familiar faces from reality TV series and assorted influencers. “There was a lot going on,” Lewis would tell me later. “You didn’t know whether to be excited, or try to lock in.” Then he stepped up to take the opening jump ball. At 16, he was the youngest professional basketball player in U.S. history. [....]