With a goal, an assist and a plus-one rating, Iowa Wild forward Tyler Madden had a solid performance on March 22 against the Ontario Reign. For Madden, though, this game was far from ordinary. For four and a half seasons, and up until Feb. 26, Madden, 25, had played for the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate , Reign, while under contract to its National Hockey League (NHL) affiliate, the Los Angeles Kings. On that February day, the Kings traded Madden to the Minnesota Wild, the NHL affiliate of Iowa Wild, in exchange for Joseph Cecconi. When both of those players took to the Wells Fargo Arena ice in Des Moines, they were playing against their former teammates for the first time.
“You’re still friends with those guys at the end of the day, but at the same time, it’s a business,” Madden said, following his second game against the Reign on March 23. “I still got to play my game and not worry about making friends out there.”
Madden’s experience is not unique for minor league athletes. Iowa’s professional sports teams are all in the minor leagues, and many are affiliated with major league teams such as the Minnesota Wild, or the National Basketball Association (NBA) Minnesota Timberwolves, the parent club of the G League Iowa Wolves.
Athletes in the minor leagues are a diverse group. There are veteran minor league players who have made a living playing at the second tier of their sport, fringe major league players who are waiting on that call up and young prospects hoping to demonstrate their skill and adapt to the reality of professional sports.
South Bay Lakers forward Stanley Johnson, 28, has been all three. In 2014, Johnson was named “California Mr. Basketball,” an award given to the best boy’s basketball player in the state. ESPN named Johnson the No. 6 recruit in the country. Johnson committed to the University of Arizona, where he played for one year before declaring for the NBA draft. In his one year, Johnson won the Julius Erving Award, given to the nation’s best men’s collegiate small forward. The Detroit Pistons selected Johnson eighth overall. Since then, Johnson has played for nine teams, including four NBA clubs, and one in Türkiye. He is on his second stint with the South Bay Lakers.
The Anaheim, Calif. native has a luxury that few athletes have — his home games are practically in his home. “I’ve been driving down the 405 my whole life,” he said. Johnson has played for the Los Angeles Lakers as well, but is now only signed to the South Bay Lakers.
Minor league athletes are separated into two categories. First, there are players like Madden, who are signed to the major league team, but are on a two-way contract. A two-way contract stipulates that the player can be sent down to the minor leagues and called up at the parent club’s discretion. Two-way contracts can also be converted into standard professional contracts.
Second, there are players signed to minor league contracts, like Johnson and Iowa Wolves guard Nojel Eastern, which entitle them to play for the minor league team only. The parent club would need to sign a player to a new contract to be able to call them up.
Although he has played at the NBA level, Johnson said he feels pride in his career, no matter where he is playing. “I had a situation and an opportunity for myself, where I went to college, where I was drafted,” Johnson said, following a March 29 loss against the Iowa Wolves at Wells Fargo Arena. “I was able to be myself and focus on being the best version of myself.”
Eastern reflected a similar attitude towards his status as a G League player. “I try to utilize each day and just get better. And then, as long as I’m getting better, as long as I’m building my consistency, whatever I need to work on, that will lead me to the opportunity that I have no control over,” he said. “All I have control over is how I produce, how I work, my development, my growth, and then I let the world do the rest after that.”
Eastern’s career does not resemble Johnson’s whatsoever. Undrafted out of Purdue in 2021, Eastern suffered an injury that kept him sidelined for two years. In early 2023, Eastern returned to playing basketball in Mexico. After two short stints with Mexican teams, he secured a contract to play for the Wolves in late October of 2023.
Eastern said his attitude is shared by many minor league athletes. Even though there is a higher level, these athletes are mostly concerned with performing for themselves and for their team.
“I don’t try to put pressure on myself,” Eastern said. “I always say before each game, ‘This is an opportunity.’”
Like all other professional players, minor league athletes are often separated from their families. Road trips could last weeks, and a trade could force an athlete’s family to move with them. For example, the Reign’s March 23 game against the Wild represented the end of a six-day road trip that began in Texas.
For athletes with families, life can change rapidly. When he was traded, Madden emphasized the brief chaos that ensued and the role his wife played. “You get the call and you don’t really know where you’re going,” he said. “That kind of takes a little bit to digest, and then it’s a crazy 48 hours packing up. My wife packed up most of our stuff.”
Madden said that his first game with the Iowa Wild was that same weekend in Milwaukee, throwing him straight into the team.
Johnson, who has had a longer playing career, has a different perspective on spending time away from home. “It’s tough. I would say that I’m lucky,” Johnson said. “I’m not used to being home. I’ve been leaving the house since I was 16 years old for long periods of time.”
Some things, though, do not get better with experience. Johnson has a daughter, which he says complicates his professional career. “My daughter’s five years old, and as I continue to grow my family and grow myself, it gets harder and harder to leave home, because that’s where my stability is,” he said.
Still, Johnson remains appreciative of his career. “I try to look at the small things and the fact that I literally played all over the world with the game of basketball. It’s truly a blessing.”
