There were countless negative things to come out of the coronavirus pandemic. One of the areas widely altered during those two-plus years was the athletic landscape at the pro, college, high school and youth levels. An event born out of the turmoil of cancellations is the GymRat Live boys’ basketball event, an invitation-only showcase designed to give some of the nation’s best player a chance to gain exposure after the normal AAU season was cancelled in 2021.
Saturday and Sunday, the third edition of the event is set to take place at the Impact Center in Halfmoon. Just like in the first two years, several of the nation’s highest-rated players competing at the 17-and-under, 16-and-under and 15-and-under levels will be in the area.
“These are the kids that are getting offered six and seven-figure NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) deals to go to college,”  GymRat Live tournament director and creator John Kmack said. “These kids are those guys. Last year, we had 18 of the top 23 players in the nation in the Class of 2023 playing here.”
The first year of the GymRat Live event brought the nation’s premier players competing on the Nike circuit and featured the top three players from the Class of 2022 in Emoni Bates, Jalen Duren and Dereck Lively, all competing for Team Final, play against the Albany City Rocks in a packed house at Washington Avenue Armory.
“We were able to do a full broadcast and everything kind of aligned as we had four of the top five players in the country here,” said Kmack, the fourth player being Lively’s future teammate at Duke in Kyle Filipowski.
Lively has declared for the 2023 NBA draft.
Last year, the City Rocks won the event at the 17-and-under level. The team competes in the Nike-sponsored Elite Youth Basketball League.
“Last year, this event came in May and we already had an idea who we were as a team…
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