America's weirdest, most wonderful basketball tournament is back with a social mission
There's weird-weird, and then there's good-weird. The Basketball Tournament -- which we introduced to the world in 2014 -- is most definitely good-weird.
The roundball free-for-all is back for its third year, and bigger than ever. Like in years prior, sixty-four teams will winnow down to one champ. As usual, former college and NBA stars playing for a fat payday will have you tripping down memory lane. The tourney's semifinals and Aug. 2 title game will be broadcast on ESPN this year.
But this summer, there's even more money at stake. The winning team now takes home $2 million -- a big jump from the inaugural tournament's $500,000 prize and last year's $1 million jackpot.
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The Basketball Tournament is also using its growing profile for good. Four spots -- one in each of the tournament's geographical regions -- will be held for squads that fundraise the most money for their local Big Brothers/Big Sisters affiliates through the donation site GoFundMe. Teams make the field primarily through online fan voting or at-large selections, but this offers a backdoor in.
Beginning June 2, teams hoping to make the Tournament field can set up GoFundMe pages dedicated to raising money for local Big Brothers Big Sisters chapters. That means you and several friends could suddenly find yourselves matched up against former NBA stars with a shot at $2 million -- if you can drum up enough support for Big Brothers Big Sisters, that is.
On June 13, the mentorship fundraising race will end. Stay tuned to The Basketball Tournament website for more details as June 2 approaches.
The Basketball Tournament CEO Jon Mugar says the Big Brothers Big Sisters partnership has two purposes: to raise money for a deserving cause, and to provide an alternate avenue for teams to qualify for the field. Since word recently got out about this year's $2 million prize, hundreds of teams have begun vying for spots in the 64-squad field.
Meanwhile ...
The Basketball Tournament's entire field will be set by mid-June, and the tournament begins the following month. Early indications show another star-studded event that perfectly mixes the best of professional basketball with the best of its blacktop counterpart.
Former NBA stars Jason Williams, Mike Bibby and Josh Howard are all members of teams looking to qualify for the tournament. Williams and Bibby are even on the same squad -- adding a wrinkle of irony 15 years after Bibby replaced Williams as point guard of the Sacramento Kings.
A stable of current pros from the NBA and beyond -- including John Wall, Kristaps Porzingis, Trevor Ariza, Rudy Gay, Victor Cruz, Matt Ryan, Pacman Jones, Cody Zeller, Will Barton, Emmanuel Mudiay, Alec Burks, Chandler Parsons, Courtney Lee, Thaddeus Young, Sam Dekker, CJ McCollum -- have signed on as team "boosters." They're tasked with getting out the vote to help their respective squads qualify.
Since The Basketball Tournament was founded in 2014, former college teammates banding back together in search of a big payday have become commonplace. This year, Michigan State and Kansas State alumni are among those hoping to qualify. Remember Durrell Summers?!? Remember Jacob Pullen?!?
Then there's another squad that shows the quirk and appeal of the egalitarian roundball startup. Brandon Armstrong, who skyrocketed to Internet fame in recent months for his hilarious impressions of NBA players, is organizing a team, too.
That's good-weird for sure.
Topics Social Good
Sam Laird is Mashable's Senior Sports Reporter. He covers the wide, weird world of sports from all angles -- as well as occasional other topics -- from Mashable's San Francisco bureau. Before joining Mashable in November 2011, his freelance work appeared in publications including the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Slam, and East Bay Express. Sam is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, and basketball and burritos take up most of his spare time. Follow him on Twitter @samcmlaird.
