San Antonio to add American Basketball League team next year

By Quixem Ramirez
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Mar. 27, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward/center Matt Bonner during game against the Phoenix Suns at the US Airways Center. The Spurs defeated the Suns 107-100. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

The basketball world will be a little different next year when the American Basketball League (ABL) begins their inaugural season in January according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

Longtime music entrepreneur Steve Rifkind will brand and promote the ABL, the United States’ first league to incorporate FIBA rules. It will attempt to rival the NBA Developmental League as it will focus on developing overseas talent.

The season will span 24 games with 12 teams in various markets like San Antonio, San Marcos, Miami and Corpus Christi. Whether the ABL will amount to anything more than the D-League will be interesting as the NBA could desperately use an effective minor league system.

The D-League has struggled to serve as anything more than a location for middling talents to dawdle aimlessly. This is primarily because the structure of the league has enticed players that would otherwise be vying for a NBA roster spot to eschew the system altogether in favor of more lucrative opportunities overseas.

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