Getty Greg Oden is part of The Basketball Tournament.
Over the next few weeks, sports fans will notice basketball on a number of ESPN networks. Given we are deep in the off-season of both the NBA and college basketball, there has been some confusion over what The Basketball Tournament (TBT for short) entails.
It is a 64-team basketball tournament with a $2 million purse at stake. Rosters are full of former college basketball and NBA players in addition to fans. Here’s how The Basketball Tournament describes their contest.
“TBT is an annual, 5-on-5 single elimination basketball tournament. Anyone 18 or older can enter a team or play. In 2017, 64 teams will play for a winner-takes-all prize of $2 million,” The Basketball Tournament’s website notes.
Basketball fans will be able to see former college basketball stars like Greg Oden and Aaron Craft. The tournament also brings in current NBA players like C.J. McCollum to coach. The unique format has several teams made up of players who played at a particular college.
Boeheim’s Army includes former Syracuse players like C.J. Fair and James Southerland. Scarlet and Gray is made up of Ohio State alumni like Oden and Craft.
Not all teams are specific to certain schools. NBA brothers Marcus and Markieff Morris put together Team FOE (Family Over Everything). The roster includes Klay Thompson’s brother, Mychel Thompson, and Tyshawn Taylor.
The Basketball Tournament has five different roles on each team. There is the general manager, coach, booster, players and fans. The GM is responsible for constructing the team and recruiting players. Scoonie Penn is the GM of the Scarlet and Gray team.
Many of the coaches are former players. Dan Dickau coaches the Few Good Men, Gonzaga’s Alumni team. The booster is a celebrity who helps the team get a lot of fan votes. Finally, there are fans on each roster. The top 100 voters (fans) on the winning team will get $200,000.
The championship will take place on August 3 at 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. The final four teams will battle in the semi-finals on August 1.