Philly-Baltimore hoops showdown set for Palestra

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There may or may not be an NBA season this year, but that wont stop the NBA from coming to Philadelphia.

Team Philly, a team made up of basketball stars from the Philly area, will take on Team Melo, a team led by Carmelo Anthony, on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. at The Palestra.

Team Philly will include Hakim Warrick (Phoenix Suns), Markieff Morris (Phoenix Suns), Marcus Morris (Houston Rockets), Lou Williams (Sixers), Kyle Lowry (Houston Rockets), John Salmons (Sacramento Kings), Wayne Ellington (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jason Thompson (Sacramento Kings), former NBA player Flip Murray and Philly street ball legend Aaron AO Owens.

Team Melo, comprised of players from the Baltimore area, will include Anthony, Josh Selby (Memphis Grizzlies), Donte Greene (Sacramento Kings), Gary Neal (San Antonio Spurs), Eric Bledsoe (Los Angeles Clippers) and more suprise (sp.) guests, according to Rahim Thompsons Twitter account @RTChosenleague.

Thompson, the commissioner of a basketball league in Philly called The Chosen League, organized the game and announced the details via Twitter.

According to Thompson, tickets will be 35 for upper level seats and 50 for lower level seats. The tickets will go on sale next Tuesday at the Palestra and online.

More details should be available this week.

Jason Thompson, a native of Mount Laurel, N.J., will play for Team Philly despite not being from the city. The exhibition will give him and other NBA players a chance to stay in shape and compete during the lockout.

Even though Im not from Philly, I live there in the off-season and I know a lot of guys in the area, so I said I would play, Jason Thompson said. It should be a good thing. With the lockout going on, what better way to play competitively and stay involved?

NBA players have been active in summer leagues around the country all summer long and there have been numerous exhibition games like the one coming to Philly over the past month. Most notably, Los Angeles Drew League traveled to Washington D.C. to take on the Goodman League and then the Goodman League visited the Melo League in Baltimore.

I think it will be a good battle, Jason Thompson said. Every time it comes down to what guy is hot and what guy shoots the ball the best. At the end of the day, you want to win. Guys want to get theirs but at the end of the day you want to get a W.

Players will likely be added and removed from the rosters up until game time on Sept. 25. There are sure to even be some rumored stars. Kevin Durant has been present in each of these NBA exhibitions, and LeBron James and Chris Paul teamed up with Carmelo in the Goodman-Melo game.

A lot of people are going to come there just because they're fans of certain players, Jason Thompson said. Once the game gets going, guys are going to be going at each other. Thats what makes the game exciting. You never know whats going to happen.

In the end, the game wont mean anything. But Philly pride will be on the line. And no matter what happens with the lockout, at least we will get to celebrate a special night of basketball in the Cathedral of College Basketball.

Ryan Feldman covers college basketball and the NBA draft for his website, TheHoopsReport.com. He can be reached at rfeldman@thehoopsreport.com.

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