Ty Lawson, a former UNC basketball star, will join the LA Ignite this summer for The Basketball Tournament.
It’s been 15 years since Ty Lawson helped Roy Williams and the UNC basketball program win their fifth championship in Chapel Hill, and Lawson is still going strong.
After concluding his nine-year NBA career, the former ACC Player of the Year has played overseas in China, Greece, and, most recently, Venezuela in 2023. Lawson averaged 27.3 points per game for Fujian Xunxing in the Chinese Basketball League’s 2019-20 season.
Lawson, 36, will continue his basketball career this summer as a member of the LA Ignite in The Basketball Tournament.
The Basketball event, abbreviated TBT, is a 64-team single-elimination event held each summer since 2014. The teams offer a diverse range of basketball talent from all around the world, including former NCAA, NBA, and international players. The winning TBT team will get a grand prize of $1 million.
Former Syracuse guard Jimmy Boeheim and Purdue’s three-time All-Big Ten forward Robbie Hummel were among the notable participants in the 2023 tournament. Over the last decade, the tournament has included a number of notable NBA players, including Jason Williams, Mike Bibby, and Jimmer Fredette.
Lawson will be joined by former UCONN standout Tarin Smith, who was named Atlantic-10 sixth man of the year in 2018, and LA Ignite Head Coach Vicken Eskidjian, who played professional FIBA basketball for 18 years.
The Basketball Tournament begins on July 19 at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas, with Lawson and the Ignite making their regional debut.
