NBA legend Tracy McGrady is rebooting the Ones Basketball League.
Photo: Vianni Laforce, OBL
Some of New York City’s hidden-gem basketball players filled a Midtown gym on Monday night to compete for a spot in a new league, which is helping hoopers show off their one-on-one talent.
NBA legend Tracy McGrady is rebooting the Ones Basketball League, a competitive one-on-one basketball competition that pits city against city. Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Washington DC, Miami, Orlando, and Raleigh all have teams alongside New York.
“This is a different dynamic that we’re creating, one-on-one,” McGrady told reporters. “I’m hoping that we can grow this sport nationwide and then globally. You look at three-on-three, you didn’t see too many people talk about three-on-three basketball, but now it’s in the Olympics. This sport I think should be in the Olympics.”
“It’s really about laying brick-by-brick and building it slowly but successfully to where it’s sustainable to catch on throughout our nation. I have global partners that have been talking about this, and hopefully we can do something to have one-on-one basketball globally.”
Photo: Vianni Laforce, OBL 
Photo: Vianni Laforce, OBL
The games are played to nine points with a 10-second shot clock and a 10-minute running game clock. If the score is tied when the clock hits zero, the first to score two points wins.
Each team has a celebrity owner/general manager leading the way. Rapper Jadakiss is in charge of New York and was watching tryouts closely on Monday night as he looked for the best talent for his team. Some of the other owners include former NBA guard John Wall in Raleigh, McGrady’s cousin and former NBA star Vince Carter in Orlando, and actor Larenz Tate in Chicago.
The New York tryout pool had several players with professional or high-level college experience. The competitive level was high as the group cycled through playing each other. Everybody was going all-out as they tried to solidify their spot on the team.
“Toughness, grittiness, and skill,” said Jadakiss when asked what characteristics he’s looking for. “We want to beat everybody.”
Photo: Vianni Laforce, OBL
Queens-born Hagel Augustin, who has been playing professionally in Slovenia for the past two years, was one of the better players. He was taking the ball to the hoop for tough finishes and knocking down jumpshots.
“It was a great experience,” said the 6-foot-3 guard. “Got the opportunity to play against a lot of people, some familiar faces…we all have an opportunity to play on this stage so I expected it to be really competitive, tough, everybody wants their chance to play.”
The OBL season will take place between May 15 and June 30 in Orlando, Florida, near where McGrady grew up. The hope is that this is just the start of something bigger as this format continues to grow.
“One-on-one, it really doesn’t matter where we are; it’s part of our culture and we want to tap into that,” said McGrady. “But also, we want to share that with other cultures that don’t understand what one-on-one basketball is.”
Tracy McGradyPhoto: Vianni Laforce, OBL