In the spring of 2021, twins Amen and Orser Thompson flew off to sign colleges for the fall of 2021. However, they surprised the hoop world by signing a two-year deal with Overtime Elite (OTE), a startup league focused on player development. This decision shocked many as historically, five-star guards of this caliber usually end up at major colleges such as the University of Kentucky and Duke University. Nevertheless, the Thompson twins chose to join OTE, which is known for its development program aimed at developing players both on and off the court.
One advantage of joining OTE was the high salaries paid to players, along with the freedom and flexibility they got. Within two years, the Thompson twins emerged as top prospects in the 2023 NBA Draft. OTE provided the freedom to train all day, which is not always the case with other options such as college and G League Ignite. However, the NBA could soon witness the first sibling pair to be in the top 10 in the same draft. Amen and Orser are ranked 5th and 6th, respectively, on the CBS Sports Big Board.
OTE was still a new concept at the time and was made possible only by capital investments from the likes of Kevin Durant, Jeff Bezos, and Drake. The Thompson twins’ decision to join OTE propelled the league to new heights, and they are now regarded as the most exciting prospects for the 2023 class. At the NBA Draft Combine, the twins faced a barrage of questions, including whether they had one or several alarm clocks and whether hot dogs were sandwiches.
On Thursday, several top performers from Wednesday’s scrimmage, such as O-Max Prosper and Tristan Vukčević, were sidelined, but others shone. Seth Landy, Amari Bailey, and Ben Shepard performed well in the day’s matches, with Shepard displaying his shotmaking ability by scoring 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting. The Thompson twins are part of an emerging trend in basketball, where players are increasingly choosing non-traditional paths to professional basketball beyond college.