Tracy McGrady’s Ones Basketball League aka The OBL Showcases Basketball’s ‘Untapped’ Talent

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame member Tracy McGrady was always an innovator on the court. So, it’s not a surprise that he’s innovating off the court now.

McGrady recently founded the Ones Basketball League, aka the OBL, a tournament-based one-on-one basketball league that is designed to showcase the best hoops talent outside the NBA.

“To me, there has always been some untapped talent outside the NBA, and even leagues outside the U.S.,” McGrady said. “I thought creating a platform and a league could showcase some of that talent.”

McGrady played 16 years in the NBA, first joining the Toronto Raptors out of high school, as a 1st round, 9th overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. By the 1999-2000 season, the player known as “T-Mac” was scoring in the double digits.

Then after joining the Orlando Magic in 2000, he became a perennial NBA All-Star—seven times in a row—and a two-time NBA scoring champion, in the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons.

In founding the OBL, McGrady has brought on board longtime sports business executive Jeffrey Pollack, who has had successful stops everywhere from NASCAR and the NBA to the World Series of Poker and fhe XFL. Pollack will act as an advisor to build out and execute all aspects of the OBL, in both basketball operations and business operations.

Yet McGrady himself, one of only a handful of Hall of Fame players who did not play college ball, is adamant about the fact that the NBA is not the only place where world-class basketball happens.

“There’s a whole scene of untapped talent, and people need to know about these guys—and their skill sets. They come from different backgrounds that tell their stories,” McGrady said.

In its kickoff season, the OBL has hosted a series of two-day, regional 32-player round-robin knockout tournaments. The regionals have taken place in Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and the Washington, D.C. Metro area. McGrady says that OBL gives diehard basketball enthusiasts the opportunity to see the best players in their region battle for a chance to win $10,000.

The ultimate prize comes at the OBL Finals, which happens July 15-16, at the Dollar Loan Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada. There, the OBL will exhibit a winner-take-all competition with a huge cash prize for the champion.

“Our proof-of-concept season for the OBL (in 2022), McGrady said, “has played out better than we had planned. The Dollar Loan Center is the perfect stage for us to crown our king.”

McGrady added, “OBL talent is top-notch, the competition is intense, and the atmosphere for our first-ever finals will be second to none, with $250,000 cash on the OBL throne waiting for the winner.”

The OBL said that, in the old traditions one-on-one playground hoops, the winner of the Ones Basketball League championship also gets bragging rights as “Ruler Of The Court.”

Among the 22 qualifiers for the Las Vegas finals are New York City tournament champion Isaiah Brown, plus Houston tournament champ John Jordan, D.C. Metro champ Kevin Kuteyi, and Glen Rice, Jr., who won the Atlanta tournament

Right before the kickoff of the Chicago tournament earlier this summer, I spoke one-on-one with McGrady about the OBL and his vision for expanding hoops through one-on-one competitive basketball.

Andy Frye: Explain to us your vision and the ideas behind founding the Ones Basketball League.

Tracy McGrady: Looking at basketball, I always thought there was some untapped talent (outside) the NBA. I thought that creating a platform for those guys was something that I wanted to do, based on my own story. I think about the opportunity that changed my life.

In 11th grade, I got to play against the most elite high school players at the Adidas camp. I was an unknown player, and I get this invitation to compete on a national scene. It was up to me to be ready and make a name for myself.

What I’m building here at OBL is a platform for those types of players to create a legacy for themselves. Also, I look at kids playing basketball and where the game is going. I have two sons who play the game, and there is a lot of talk around one-on-one basketball. After every practice, that’s what they do—one-on-one basketball.

AF: You did not play college ball, and thus not in a system like that of Dean Smith at North Carolina or one like UCLA’s John Wooden.

Does OBL seek to develop players organically, in a system, or just find something special?

McGrady: Well, I go back to my story and early playing days. There were a lot of really talented guys out there, who did develop through a system. At the time (as a rookie in the NBA) I didn’t understand it, but I do now.

I was the 9th pick in the ‘97 Draft. I was groomed my first three years in the NBA to be a star. But then I got the chance to be liberated the court as a player. A lot of guys are extremely talented but don’t get that opportunity to have that liberation. Some get looked over. And when you get put into a system that is not ideal for your type of play—say if you need the ball to shine, but you get put in a corner—those guys can’t last in the NBA.

But now, a lot of those guys are in my league (the OBL) and tell me that that’s what happened to them. It’s just the luck of the draw.

AF: OK, so you were groomed to be a star, but you still had to earn it. Talk about that dynamic as it exists in the OBL.

McGrady: I think the players who are in OBL and the kind that are committed and mentally tough. To excel at one-on-one is to know that there’s no help (and) no one behind you to help you set up shots.

A guy gets by you, there’s not another teammate to play defense. Mentally, you have to be wired differently. So, already you have an advantage. And you have to prove yourself. But your physical tools have to be on another level.

Then, there’s strategizing, and mental preparation. How to figure out your opponent, and having an entrepreneurial mindset. And you’re playing for $250,000.

Read Frye’s interviews with Shaq and Tom Brady. Follow him on Twitter.

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