Not far from the venerable Madison Square Garden, the energy inside Life Time Sky basketball courts in midtown Monday was high. Twenty-two of the area’s more notable street basketball players stepped onto the court for a shot at joining NBA Hall-of-Famer Tracy McGrady’s new one-on-one league as members of Team New York.

The tryouts marked the first NYC event for the Ones Basketball League (OBL), a reboot of the one-on-one league recently announced by McGrady. The OBL is part streetball revival, part global showcase—and for McGrady, a vision of the future where “AND1” streetball meets the digital age.

“You go back to those early 2000s when the ‘AND1’ boys is hot. Could you imagine if social media was going on there? They would have been stars, like, bigger than NBA players,” McGrady said. “So I think in this day and age of social media, we just want to get that, bring that back, bring that type of culture, that type of recognition, back.”

Many of the players who tried out are fixtures at West 4th Street, Dykman Park, and Rucker Park, local legends with social media followings and international playing experience.

“I’m hoping that we can grow this sport nationwide and then global,” McGrady said.  “You don’t see too many people talk about three on three basketball, but now it’s in the Olympics. This is a sport I think should be in the Olympics!”

New York’s team will be led by hip-hop icon and basketball enthusiast Jadakiss, who showed up Monday  to connect with players and bring some local star power. The field of 22 in the coming weeks will be narrowed to a three-man roster that  “best reflect the tradition, values and basketball culture of the city the team represents,” the league said. Cities will compete against one another.

“I love basketball. I have a godson that’s emphatic with one-on-one, so that was another thing that made me jump on the opportunity,” Jadakiss said. “He’s very knowledgeable of it. When he comes to my crib, he turns it on and makes me watch all the premier match ups.”

The tryouts drew players from all over the city, each bringing their own story to the floor.

Isaiah Brown, 29, known on the courts as Leaky Roof or Leaky, hails from Flushing.

“Someone told me my favorite player of all the time was having a tournament in New York City. Why not show up? I got to meet him. I got to play in front of him. And I ended up beating everybody.”

His four-year-old daughter watched proudly from the sidelines. Asked about his nickname, Brown grinned: “When the roof leaks what do you put on the floor to catch the rain? A bucket.”

Jonathan Grimsley, 30, went to Medgar Evers College where he averaged 23 points per game his senior season. Also known as Jon Got VC, (because, as he explained, he looks like a video game player,) he recently returned from playing professionally in the Philippines.

“I’m at a point where I’m playing for the love of the game, because, for me, it was always like, the highest level is NBA. Everything after that, it’s like, you just playing because you want to at that point,” he said. “Like, this is street ball. It’s about heart.”

Waleed Abawi, or Waldo, 28, from Bay Ridge, summed up what it means to represent the city: “I’m in every single park, literally. West 4th, all the parks around. New York is the Mecca of street ball.”

In T Mac’s eyes, one-on-one basketball deserves its own platform—complete with new opportunities for players and fans.

“There are underground leagues…This is a sport I truly believe deserves the platform for betting, for guys to be able to live out their basketball dream and just compete at a high level against the best one on one talent.”

The OBL “Battle of the Cities” competition will run May 15 through June 30 in Orlando, Florida and features teams representing cities across the country—each led by a celebrity owner or general manager. The league’s revival is backed by Miami-based Next Gen Sports.

Team Orlando  is led by Vince Carter, NBA Hall of Famer, Team Miami  by Tim Hardaway Sr., five-time NBA All-Star, while Team Chicago is led by actor and producer Larenz Tate.