On the court, the Santa Cruz Warriors feel every bit like an NBA team, with towering players sinking dunks and three-pointers, and cheering fans in face paint.

Off the court, it’s a different story. The players ride a bus or fly coach to away games. They buy their own sneakers. There’s no weight room at the Kaiser Permanente arena, so they work out in a hallway, doing pull-ups from a beam in the ceiling.

Life In The D-League

But no matter who you ask, most players would change one thing:

“The pay," Moe Baker said. "The pay.”

[sidebar title="New Book Goes Behind The Scenes Of Lakers' 'Showtime' Era" width="330" align="right"]The L.A. Lakers won five NBA titles in the 1980s. In his new book, Jeff Pearlman explores the glitz-and-glamour dynasty. Check out our interview, book review and an excerpt from 'Showtime.'[/sidebar]Baker is a guard in his eighth year in the NBA Development League. Baker’s salary has topped out at $25,000 for a six-month season. Rookies make $13,000.

“The money you make in the D-League season, you can survive off of it, but it’s gonna run out real quick,” Baker said.

Baker said he’s earned more playing abroad in the Philippines, Turkey, and France.

“Some guys can make a D-League salary in one month, goin’ overseas,” he said.

Despite the difference in pay, though, some players prefer to play for D-League teams like the Santa Cruz Warriors. Baker said what the D-League offers is the chance to play regularly in front of NBA scouts.

“Here, every night, it’s NBA scouts in the building,” he said.

When NBA teams see something they need, D-league players get a “call-up,” a 10-day contract to play in the NBA. A few, like Jeremy Lin and Chris Andersen, have gone on to become NBA stars. That outcome is pretty rare. So Santa Cruz coach Casey Hill said players weigh other factors too.

“The decision really ends up coming down to, am I comfortable going to play in a foreign country [where] they don’t speak my language; I don’t know if they’re gonna pay me,” Hill explained. “There’s so many unknowns with going overseas that guys just kinda get scared away.”

Even for players without NBA prospects, Hill said playing in the D-League can be a useful bargaining chip.

“They’ll play a year in the D-League, to get that on their resume, to get their numbers up, and then they’ll use those numbers to get a good deal in Europe,” Hill said.

Call-Ups

Some analysts are more cynical. Jonathan Givony owns the basketball site DraftExpress.com. He said there are only so many spots on European teams.