Basketball
Pro-Am commissioners building summer hoops tradition unlike any other
It’s hard to believe there ever was an era without the Red Bull Pro-Am Basketball Classic.
It was 2016 when Sean Brunson first saw the Drew League documentary, "The Drew: No Excuse, Just Produce." He had been studying leagues like the Drew and Dyckman (New York) for inspiration after launching his own summer Pro-Am, Baltimore’s Brunson League in 2013. While locked into the 75-minute documentary, reflecting on all the times he heard debates and read Instagram comment section discourse about which city was home to the best basketball, Brunson landed on an idea.
Dyckman vs. Brunson League
© Jared Martinez
What if there was a way to get a quantifiable answer, he wondered. Brunson’s vision for a collective Pro-Am tournament pitting the country’s top leagues kept him up at night. He used PowerPoint to design rough jersey sketches, logos and concepts before ever actually verbalizing the idea.
What ensued was a masterclass in basketball networking.
First, a trip to Los Angeles in February 2018 for NBA All-Star Weekend where Brunson met with Chaniel Smiley, commissioner of the Drew League (L.A.) and the first preliminary yes. That summer he met Mike Morak of the Rumph Classic (Phila.) at a Nike event hosted in the Washington Wizards new practice facility — another commissioner piqued by the idea.
Brunson’s next stops were New York and Atlanta. Dyckman commissioner Ken Stevens and AEBL (Atlanta) commissioner Jah Rawlings — a New York native — had been independently flirting with the idea of their Pro-Ams meeting so naturally both were drawn in. Rawlings was then the facilitator to loop in Kyle Davis of Miami Pro.
The friends and commissioners of the Red Bull PABC.
© Nick Tomoyasu / Red Bull Content Pool
“When COVID hit, none of us had anything to do,” Brunson said of when the idea started to take form. “I’m on the phone with Chaniel and she said, ‘That idea you had, I’m in.’ As soon as she said she was in, I contacted Ken from Dyckman. Ken says, ‘Oh, I’m in too.’ So, I got the two best Pro-Ams in the country.” Follow-up calls out to Philly, Atlanta and Miami got them to a nice round number for a three-day tournament.
“We all have the mindset of trying to figure out how we can all come together for our cities,” Stevens added. “That’s how the [Pro-Am Basketball Classic] was born.”
The commissioners began meeting weekly to push the vision past the drawing board, leading up to the inaugural PABC running in June of 2022. When it finally came to light, King Drew transformed into a basketball meeting like the United Nations, each delegation offering its own unique style.
Brunson League players arrive at King Drew High School for Red Bull PABC
© Nick Tomoyasu / Red Bull Content Pool
Baltimore plays with a nuanced grit as the only representing city without a pro team. Los Angeles? They’ll give you energy and sophistication. Miami embraces its flashy reputation. Atlanta flexes athletic, hybrid scorers. Philly has a constant chip on its shoulder. And New York has a unique, concrete park-style flare.
Where Brunson used descriptors like ‘surreal’ and ‘beautiful feeling’ to describe the euphoric feeling of his brain-child tipping off for the first time, here he was in year two sitting courtside 2,600 miles from home enjoying what has ascended beyond a one-off gathering to becoming an iconic summer tradition.
“It’s such a great weekend of summer basketball and the culture that comes from that,” Smiley said. “A lot of guys that do play overseas don’t get a chance to showcase their game in front of their families. The fact that they can do this in front of their community, that’s what we want, is to put on a show for them.”
Brandon Moss, the Dyckman forward better known as ‘Bodybag’ infused life into an early game at King Drew.
Brandon Moss playing for Dyckman Basketball at the Red Bull PABC in LA
© Nick Tomoyasu / Red Bull Content Pool
He repeatedly, and with reckless abandonment, flexed his athleticism jumping toward the rim with anyone who dared challenge. As Moss parachuted back down to the hardwood, he’d find the nearest camera for his signature celebration; clutching an imaginary zipper and confidently running it up past his head.
Live on Ball is Life’s YouTube channel, Thursday night featured a familiar matchup between the Rumph and Drew. Overseas pro Samme Givens from Philly has experience going toe-to-toe in past Rumph Classics with Montrezl Harrell, an NBA vet enlisting with the home team. Givens wasted no time waging war with Harrell on the game’s opening possession, getting a bucket and letting him hear about it.
Samme Givens and Montrezl Harrell
© Jared Martinez
“That feeling [of summer basketball] is different,” Morak said. “People don’t care who you are, how much money you make or where you play, they wanna see you perform. And they’ll let you know if you’re not playing well. … That’s what the platform is all about.”
Year one had a particular focus on basketball while laying a foundation for the magical event.
Red Bull PABC implemented a few more bells and whistles for year two. It started with a full itinerary at the tournament’s hoop summit on Tuesday, 6/20. Sixty players sat in on a nutritional presentation, then a financial literacy course and a mental wellness discussion.
After that came media day photoshoots and a yoga class. Influencer events later preceded Friday’s championship game with a Red Bull Run the Racks 3-point contest and influencer game.
“It’s been so great all the things Red Bull has done in creating experiences,” Rawlings said. “For the players most importantly but also the commissioners and for everyone to be able to build and network together.”
Red Bull PABC hoop summit
© Colin Kerrigan
Red Bull PABC hoop summit
© Colin Kerrigan
Red Bull PABC hoop summit
© Colin Kerrigan
Red Bull PABC hoop summit
© Colin Kerrigan
So, where does the PABC go from here?
Brunson is hopeful of expansion, as he sees a group of new summer leagues knocking on the door looking to play in the Red Bull PABC and challenge Drew League for the top spot.
Summer basketball’s greatest trait is its ability to connect in an intimate manner, an unattainable feeling on the game’s biggest stages. Here, players renew old rivalries. Out of bounds lines are blurred by energetic fans yearning to engage with the action. And the hostility holds everyone accountable, no matter who you are or where you’ve been.
The PABC harnesses it all in an effort to concentrate hoopers from six major cities (soon maybe more) for a chance to tangibly answer — at least until the following year — the never-ending debate: which city is home to the best basketball?