Atlanta Hawks Legend Joe Johnson To Play In The Basketball Tournament

An overview of The Basketball Tournament which will feature former Atlanta Hawks All-Star, Joe Johnson.

The Basketball Tournament (TBT for short) is about to start their seventh season, looking to gain a much wider audience this year. The single-elimination tourney will try and capitalize on NBA fans hungry for any form of basketball and will feature a robust roster of players, including former Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson.

The 2020 version of TBT will feature just 24 teams (down from 64 in 2019), most of which are alumni teams from various colleges. Examples are Boeheim’s Army (Syracuse), Stillwater Stars (Oklahoma State), Carmen’s Crew (Ohio State), and Power of the Paw (Clemson).

There are teams not affiliated with a school, however, including the powerhouse Overseas Elite, who has won four of the first six events and look like favorites to make it five this summer. The team is led by D.J Kennedy, the G.O.A.T of TBT who has made the All-Tournament team in the past four years, winning MVP in 2015 and 2018.

He and the rest of Overseas Elite will be joined by two former NBA studs this year, Joe Johnson and Jarrett Jack. Johnson, the former Atlanta Hawks All-Star is competing in The Basketball Tournament for the first time, after dominating the BIG3 last summer.

“Iso Joe” will likely be fighting with his new teammate D.J Kennedy for the MVP if all works out. Johnson earned the top honors in the BIG3 last season, nearly riding that to an NBA comeback before being cut by the Pistons right before the season began.

If the 39-year-old puts on a show in Columbus, he could be trying out for an NBA team once again if more players opt out of the Orlando bubble.

Johnson is just one familiar face that Atlanta Hawks fans can look out for when TBT tips off on the Fourth of July. The Hawks’ G-League team, the College Park Skyhawks, will be represented by Nick Ward, the former Michigan State big man who’ll be suiting up for an All-Big-Ten team called BIG X.

The voice of the Atlanta Hawks, Bob Rathbun, will be calling multiple games for ESPN, bringing his usual charm and robust pipes to the basketball world once again.

The Basketball Tournament was already a must-watch for basketball fans, but Atlanta Hawks fans have a bit extra to look forward to next week.