Tracy McGrady is bringing back the Ones Basketball League (OBL) this summer, so what better place to set the season off than in the Mecca of basketball, New York City.
On a nice spring March evening, over 20 hopeful players gathered at a midtown gym to compete for the right to represent New York in the upcoming OBL tournament, which takes place May 15 to June 30 in Orlando.
This season not only are players repping their city, but they will be backed by big name athletes and celebrities who have been added to the league.
McGrady reached out to people such as his cousin Vince Carter (Team Orlando), Tim Hardaway Sr (Team Miami), Larenz Tate (Team Chicago) and John Wall (Team Raleigh) to lead the teams.
But Team New York had to have someone special.
Someone who repped the entire city, who is loved by the city and who knows basketball.
So who better to call than Mr. “Top five, dead or alive”, the man who Mayor Mamdami shouted out in his swearing in ceremony, and the only one everyone knows as “J to MWAH”, Jadakiss.
With McGrady and Team New York owner Jadakiss in the building, the Team New York hopefuls went at it in a tryout that exemplified what McGrady is seeking.
“We’re sticking to the essence of what basketball is,” McGrady told me back in 2022. “Individual talent and skills.”
That talent shined bright as players went at each other continuously, no one letting up for repping New York City is special honor, a position that can either cement your name in the streets or quickly make you a running joke or an afterthought.
Under the guise of McGrady, Jadakiss and 2022 New York winner and player captain, Isaiah “Leaky Roof” Brown, players threw everything they had into the tryouts until five finalists emerged:
