NEWSLETTER
Every few months you see the highlights start trending again. Some players are decked to the ground. Some players are completing ferocious poster dunks. And some players are getting stuffed into another universe. The game is called SlamBall.
Feast your eyes:
Breaking onto the scene in the early-2000s, it’s hard to forget the trampoline-filled basketball courts and padded players. The sport was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before, but it was also very short-lived. After back-to-back seasons in 2002 and 2003, the league disbanded. And a return in 2008 wasn’t enough to keep it afloat. Now, however, SlamBall founder Mason Gordon thinks it’s the perfect time to try again.
Gordon told TMZ Sports on Wednesday – the 20th anniversary of SlamBall’s television debut – that the alternative sport will make its mighty return in the summer of 2023. While he says the league has received offers to return in the past, he believes this era of social media and short-form entertainment makes for the right environment.
“SlamBall kind of fits the bill with 20 minutes games, television half hours, people have always really gravitated to the action,” Gordon said. “And it’s this incredible mashup of basketball, football, hockey, a little bit of gymnastics, a little bit of video games. That’s just SlamBall. You get a whole lot in one neat tidy little package.”
I mean, he’s not wrong. As hard as it is to get an alternate sports league off the ground, SlamBall is as action-packed as they come. It’s almost hard to take your eyes off the action, and I couldn’t be more intrigued by the idea of it bursting back onto the scene.
Will former or borderline NBA players try to enter the mix (Kenny Anderson and John Starks served as head coaches back in the day)? What about former college stars? Gordon did mention that a number of pro-caliber athletes come out of the NCAA, but he also says the sport will be hunting for the folks who would “ride a motorcycle off the edge of a ramp and try to land it on the other side.”
A lot more information on what the league will look like is expected to come out soon. Who knows how long it’ll actually be around this time, but I look forward to following the absurdity.
You can check out Gordon’s full announcement on SlamBall returning below:
