With professional basketball continuing to expand their boundaries, the fourth annual ‘The Basketball Tournament’ is set to take place later this summer. In the winner take all style tournament, 60 teams have now been announced to battle it out through regional play. Following from ESPN’s Jeff Goodman:
Sixty teams have been unveiled for the $2 million, 64-team, winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament (TBT), with the final four coming from the TBT Jamboree, a play-in event in Philadelphia in which 16 teams buy their way into a bracket for $5,000.
The semifinals of the tournament will take place on August 1st and the championship will be held two days later on August 3rd, both will be televised nationally on ESPN. The tournament involves multiple familiar faces from the NBA, participating as both coaches and as players.
Former first overall pick of the Portland Trail Blazers Greg Oden will be one of the names on a roster, as he will suit up for a team made up of Ohio State alums. Along with Oden, we will see star guard Damian Lillard and the Morris twins to be among the NBA players serving as coaches in the tournament and TNT anchor and ex-player Kenny Smith will even serve as a GM.
It’s good to see players who don’t all have the privilege to play for money have the opportunity to make a life-altering amount by showcasing their skills and taking home the title in TBT, an event that should garner plenty of attention later in the summer.
