Answer:
Bad Brad's basis in his stock for purposes of calculating the gain or loss is c) $15,000
Step-by-step explanation:
Hi, he has a option, which works kind of like and insurance policy, in which he has the right to buy that 30 shares at $10 each, for every NQO that he has, and since he has 20 NQOs, he can invest:

Plus, $15*600 shares=$9,000 which is the income recognized
Therefore, ignoring the cost of the options, the amount of money that Bad Brad has to consider in order to check if he had a loss or a gain is $6,000+$9,000=$15,000
Best of luck.