To better contextualize its ending, it’s important to recall how Ignite began. The NBA launched the program in April 2020, with a commitment from top-ranked prospect Jalen Green, now the Rockets’ third-year guard who is spearheading Houston’s late-season playoff bid in the Western Conference. Ignite arrived on the heels of former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leading a group investigation into the underworld of college basketball recruiting — a shadow game that also provoked an FBI probe into sneaker company and agency payola connections within numerous major NCAA programs. The NBA, too, watched a pair of highly touted prospects, LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton, depart for Australia’s National Basketball League before they would enter the 2020 NBA Draft.