Former NBA player and Atlanta Hawks GM Landry Fields joins Ric Bucher for a special edition of On The Ball to pull back the curtain on Project B, the ambitious new global basketball league aiming to rethink how professional basketball is played, presented and consumed.
Fields, now Project B’s head of men’s basketball, confirms that players are already signed, says recognizable names are coming to the men’s side and reveals that announcements should begin rolling out soon. He explains why Project B believes it can lure elite talent with player equity, fewer games and back-to-backs, competitive compensation, greater career longevity and opportunities to build truly global brands.
Fields also lays out Project B’s unusual F1-style global model, integrating men and women on the same platform while taking events to cities and countries around the world. He discusses the worldwide search for talent, why the women are currently leading Project B’s development, and what he learned about leadership, culture and decision-making from stops with the San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks and Overtime Elite.
Fields also gets candid about his Hawks tenure and the lesson he carries forward: when you’re the decision-maker, set the vision, own the vision and build toward it.
And, yes, Ric also uncovers one of the more unexpected chapters of Fields’ résumé: the former Knick once impersonated Nicki Minaj, Pitbull and Lionel Richie on national television.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Landry Fields joins On The Ball
00:49 – Nicki Minaj or launching a global basketball league: which is harder?
03:00 – How Fields unexpectedly became a TV singing competitor
04:21 – Why Project B appealed to Fields
05:50 – The F1-style vision for a global basketball league
07:37 – Igor Kokoškov and Project B’s player-development plan
08:17 – How Project B can recruit men against the NBA and EuroLeague
09:40 – The untapped pool of global basketball talent
11:10 – Lessons Fields took from the Spurs, Hawks and Overtime Elite
12:09 – What R.C. Buford taught Fields about leadership and culture
14:20 – Fields looks back on his tenure as Atlanta Hawks GM
15:16 – What he would do differently as an NBA decision-maker
16:33 – Where Project B will find its men’s players
18:00 – What the women’s side tells us about Project B’s men
19:00 – Women leading the way toward an equal men’s/women’s platform
20:30 – Will recognizable stars sign with Project B? Fields says yes
21:00 – Equity, fewer games, compensation and Project B’s recruiting pitch
22:00 – How Fields was recruited to Project B
23:00 – What his job looks like right now
23:40 – How NBA insiders are reacting to Project B
24:20 – Taking live basketball to underserved fans around the world
25:40 – Project B’s YouTube partnership and global accessibility
26:20 – Why Fields calls the format “incredibly groundbreaking”
28:20 – Fields’ response to Project B skeptics
29:35 – “It is happening”: players are signed and infrastructure is in place
30:00 – When Project B’s first men’s names will be revealed
30:35 – Why player announcements will arrive in stages
31:11 – The type of player Project B wants
32:40 – Fields and Bucher look ahead to what comes next
33:10 – Closing thoughts and future Project B coverage
#ProjectB #LandryFields #NBA #GlobalBasketball #Basketball #NBANews #AtlantaHawks #Spurs #OvertimeElite #OnTheBall #RicBucher
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