Short answers, pulled from the story.
The NBA G League is the official developmental league of the National Basketball Association, made up of 31 teams as of the 2024-25 season. All but one, the independently owned Mexico City Capitanes, are affiliated with a single NBA club.
The NBA G League was founded in 2001 as the National Basketball Development League, playing its first season in 2001-02 with eight teams based in the southeastern United States.
Before the 2017-18 season, Gatorade paid to attach its name to the league, first as the NBA Gatorade League and then shortened to NBA G League. That made it the first United States professional sports league named for an advertiser.
Players reach the NBA through standard assignment by their NBA team, through two-way contracts that split their time between the G League and NBA rosters, or through call-ups after strong performances. The 2017 collective bargaining agreement introduced two-way contracts allowing up to 45 days with the NBA team per season.
In the 2017-18 season, G League players outside the two-way system earned a base salary of $35,000 a year plus housing and insurance benefits, while two-way players earned between $50,000 and $75,000 annually.
Rudy Gobert, Khris Middleton, Pascal Siakam, and Fred VanVleet all became NBA All-Stars after playing in the G League. Middleton was the first former D-League player selected to the NBA All-Star Game, in 2019.