NBA free agent Gary Payton II founds skateboard league - ESPN

NBA free agent Gary Payton II is launching a professional skateboard league, joining a growing movement of athlete-led leagues aimed at providing year-round relevance to Olympic and action sports.

The Skate Board Association, a coed, six-team street skateboard league, plans to hold its inaugural 10-game season next summer in Big Bear Lake, California. Payton, who last played for the Golden State Warriors, told ESPN he founded the league with partners Royce Campbell and Sheldon Lewis because of his childhood love for skateboarding.

«Growing up, I always wanted to be a skateboarder. The skate park was right next to the basketball court,» he said. «I'd skate there with my friends and they'd skate the park and I'd hoop.»

When his partners proposed the league, «I was like, 'Why hasn't there been a professional league like the NFL, NBA or NHL for skateboarding?'» Payton said. "'Let's change the sports game and the skateboard game.'"

Payton will be director of VIP relations and an owner of one of the league's six teams, which will each feature six athletes — three women and three men — plus reserves and coaches. Men and women will receive equal pay.

The league has signed 18 athletes to nonexclusive contracts, including 2020 Olympic silver medalist Kelvin Hoefler, SLS Select Series champion Manny Santiago, X Games skateboard street gold medalists Ryan Decenzo and Pamela Rosa and silver medalist Samarria Brevard.

Bravard said the league structure would alleviate the stress and uncertainty athletes currently face and help them focus on competition. «This is a game changer and will create avenues for us that weren't there before,» she said.

Unlike most skate contests, which pay athletes a prize purse based on how they finish, the