November 17, 2015
If you're not among those who trust in Sam Hinkie's long-term process for the Philadelphia 76ers, be still your hot take-filled hearts. The city is set to get a second professional basketball team.
Among the big names to star in the new league is the city's native son Rasheed Wallace, a former NBA champion who hasn't played professionally since 2013.
Sam Amick of USA Today had the scoop Tuesday on the new Champions League, which is set to debut in January 2016. The New York team is already set with a roster that includes Wallace as well as former NBA players Al Harrington and Maurice Ager.
In addition to Philly, teams will play in Boston, Washington, Miami, Orlando, Atlanta and Cleveland, and the league is supposed to have 16 squads altogether.
The league will be composed of several former All-Stars -- at least two per team, according to Amick -- and at least one Hall-of-Famer will be in each front office. Here are some of the details of the league, via Amick's report:
• 30 games played in July and August
• Players make about $200,000 a year
• Playoffs are March Madness style
• $25 a ticket, no season tickets
• League will hold charity games in non-NBA markets (first game set to air in January on ESPN3)
The league's chairman and CEO Carl George told USA Today he hopes to provide affordable, family entertainment and help prolong players' careers who are cut from the NBA.
Secondary leagues to America's "Big Four" don't often last long, Bleacher Report points out, creating skepticism on whether the league can survive long-term.
For Philly fans, however, who aren't on board with the Sixers' rebuilding process, the league might provide a nice alternative.
