NYC Jam: NBA Jam-Style 2-on-2 Hits New York with Top High School Prospects

The calendar for elite high school basketball players is jam-packed. Almost from the time school starts in the fall, they're expected in the gym every day—even if the season doesn't tip off until November. And once their high school season ends, AAU play picks up and sends them zigzagging across the country for the summer.

So if you want to add another event to that already-crowded calendar—and you want top prospects to show—you better get creative. For Jeff Chen and Kashif Pratt, that was part of the inspiration for NYC Jam, a new full court two-on-two tournament coming to Harlem on Aug. 11. The tournament, which is sponsored by Bleacher Report, will feature some of the best basketball prospects in the northeast for a one-day event unlike anything else on the high school basketball calendar.

Around three months ago, Chen came up with the concept for a retro-style basketball tournament. At a time when he'd been playing a lot of full-court one-on-one games with friends, he also came across an old NBA Jam cartridge. Chen, who was born in 1988, was 5 years old when NBA Jam debuted and remembered being obsessed with the game as a kid. He always played with the Supersonics.

Using his marketing background and sports culture experiences as bedrock, Chen began crafting a concept that covered everything from the style of play to style of uniforms. He connected with fashion designer Eric Emanuel to craft eight heavy, 1990s-style mesh shorts. And he asked another designer, Michael Cherman of Chinatown Market, to create eight T-shirt designs with retro NBA logos on them—including, of course, the Supersonics.

"Everything comes full circle in fashion," Chen says. "Champion is relevant again, '90s gear is very in. I had a specific eight-bit vision for this tournament. It'll have a really cool video game look and feel."

When it came time to design the tournament itself, Chen collaborated with Pratt, who played basketball at New York's now-closed Rice High School and then at Iona and Seton Hall for college. Although many of the players who plan to compete weren't even born by the time NBA 2K debuted, much less NBA Jam, they were still thrilled about it.

via Bleacher Report

"The kids were excited that they could be the focus," Pratt says. "Being on the court with 10 guys during most of these summer tournaments, you have to do something crazy to be seen. Here, you're going to be on the court with four people, and everything you do will be seen—from a pass to a shot or even how well you play defense."

The tournament will feature eight teams with three players apiece—and no coaches. The games will have four-minute quarters and a 24-second shot clock with two timeouts per game. Each team gets five fouls, and after that, each foul will result in a one-and-one. The first player to reach five fouls on each team will be out for the remainder of the game. If another player fouls out, every one of his fouls will result in two free throws for the opponent, but the game will never devolve to two-on-one or two-on-none. The winner of three games in a row will take home the title.

The structure of the tournament was appealing to prospects, as evidenced by the attendees. NYC Jam will feature top-20 prospects in the Class of 2018 like Westtown School's Cameron Reddish (Pa.), Archbishop Molloy High's Moses Brown (N.Y.) and Roselle Catholic's Nazreon Reid (N.J.).

Gregory Payan/Associated Press

"I just told these guys, ‘There's not going to be a coach, just go out and play hard and have fun,'" Pratt says. "A month from now, it's no fun and it's all business for them. I think the NYC Jam setting will be the perfect end to their summer basketball seasons."

"These players are so skilled and fast," Chen says. "The games are going to be pick-and-rolls and isos and fast breaks. It's going to be jelly this, dunk that. These players can really hoop."

Originally, Pratt and Chen had hoped only to create a fun experience for for the hoops community. But because of B/R's sponsorship, the tournament will now be free to the public, and seats will be first-come, first-served. The tournament will start at 7 p.m. at the Dunlevy Milbank Center in Harlem. DJ Authorize will provide the soundtrack, and David "Cha-Ching" Teele and Jason Negron will call the games. And if Chen and Pratt have their way, it shouldn't take long to reach the first "He's on fire!" call.

"Growing up, these kids didn't play NBA Jam, but they did play NBA 2K," Pratt says. "And every basketball player grows up wondering what it would be like to see yourself playing in a video game. This an early chance for them to do just that."

Contact [e-mail] with any questions about the event.