Photo credit: Toby Tande
The Basketball Tournament, a competition that offers players the world over a shot at fabulous prize money, opened for business in 2014 with an 8:30 a.m. game in front of 17 fans. Eight years and over 400 games later, TBT has grown to count ESPN as its distribution partner while awarding more than $10M in prize money. On top of its commercial success, TBT has already brought welcome change to a flagging NBA tradition. TBT adopted the Elam Ending for its final four minutes of games in 2017; three years later, the NBA adopted it for the All-Star game. The response from fans has been overwhelmingly positive. TBT is bringing fun to the game. To do so, they need exciting, talented players. Like TBT newcomer Marcus Patterson.
Patterson, who plays for Portimonense of Portugal’s Proliga, is a 6-foot-4 multidimensional shooting guard who proved last year that you can go home again, enjoying a second successful stint with Portimonense. He was the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 14.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assist on a blistering 64.1% shooting inside the arc in under 25 minutes a game. Patterson finished the season strong with a three-game stretch scoring 23 points or more, including a 34-point,12-rebound tour de force against Sampaense. Portimonense finished a disappointing 10-12, but Patterson was a positive all year, earning positive plus/minus ratings in 12 of his 14 games.
He’ll be hooping in the tourney’s Xavier region for Hoops ALSF, one of 64 teams competing in TBT. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Alexandra “Alex” Scott. Before she was a year old, Scott was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer. After a hospital stay for treatment, grateful for the help she’d received, Scott wanted to do something for any children suffering from cancer. She and her brother opened a lemonade stand and raised $2000 to donate. By the time she passed away at 8, she’d helped raise over a million dollars.
TBT and ALSF each began with a vision that may have seemed unreachable. Greatness takes root in humility; there must be stability within before one can venture too far or too high. With Patterson on-board, Hoops for ALSF hopes this is the beginning of a foundation that lays the groundwork for a limitless future.
