Legends of Basketball Showcase on 12/17 at UC

The 2022 Legends of Basketball Showcase comes to the United Center on December 17, 2022. The inaugural event will feature a college basketball quadruple header.

The four games are:

Session 1:
12:00pm CT: Northern Iowa vs Towson
2:30pm CT: Tulane vs George Mason

Session 2:
7:00pm CT: Dayton vs Wyoming
9:30pm CT: NC State vs Vanderbilt

In October, Intersport, the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA), the McLendon Foundation and iNDEMAND jointly presented the inaugural charity game between Gonzaga and Tennessee at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. Aside from great basketball, the event was historic on a larger level.

It was the first pay-per-view national television showing of college basketball. It served as a trial and introduction for raising funds. Based on the success of the event, the partners agreed to extend and discuss expanding the program through 2023.

Vice president at Intersport Mark Starsiak stated, “As we collectively evaluated this inaugural event, it became clear fairly quickly that we were all interested in pursuing a second edition of the event. From the intense on-court experience that is sometimes atypical of preseason games to the well-received nature of the broadcast on PPV.COM and cable and satellite, the important visibility for our partners at the NBRPA and the charitable contribution to the McLendon Foundation, everyone involved benefitted from this experience. We’re eager to build off the success of this inaugural event and are aiming even higher in 2023.”

This is going to be nirvana for basketball junkies. Four games on one day in one location makes for a fantastic day.

I interviewed NBRPA Chairman and former NBA player Johnny Davis about his carer and this event. Davis gave great insight.

I plan on arriving early as always. Armed with my Ipad to get live stats as the games progress, I will be ensconced in college ball.

I admit, I am not familiar with any of the eight teams. Without a real rooting interest, I can just sit back and enjoy the elite play I see on the court. Of course, later this week, I will research each team and possibly even develop a favorite or two to cheer. Either way, it's going to be a blast watching eight plus hours of ball in the house Jordan built.

The United Center offers plenty of tasty options. There are also plenty of great restaurants around the stadium for pre- or post-event dining, but I plan on filling up at the UC.

This is going to be an amazing day and the real start of something big. On a wintery Chicago Saturday, there is no place else I'd rather be.