Preface:  Change the Game, Change Communities

I call this book Version 1.0 because it is not a finished product. Change relevant to this topic is inevitable. From my observations of technology companies' product launches, I have learned products and services are constantly being improved; they are never finished. More importantly, technology companies use end-users to help develop their products through alpha and beta testing phases. These companies also maintain an open, candid dialogue with end-users through forums and blogs. Change the Game Change Communities is not a finished product and I invite your feedback.

Change the Game to Change Communities asserts that African-Americans can and should create, support and sustain a niche basketball league. Basketball is a multibillion-dollar industry supported by 450 million fans globally. Basketball is, second only to soccer, the world's most popular sport. Basketball affords thousands of African-Americans college educations, access to corporate America, world travel and more. However, if one balances African-Americans' contribution to the development and growth of the game against what African- Americans have received in wealth, their participation significantly outweighs their returns. Why?

The critical question is why do African-Americans continue to support athletic – economic – models that do not benefit our communities? The National Basketball Association had the opportunity to start its league with a black-owned franchise in 1949. When you consider this fact, celebrating Bob Johnson's and now Michael Jordan's ownership of the Charlotte Hornets is anti-climatic. What if the NBA had included a black-owned team from the outset? How many black-owned teams would there be today? How about black-owned football and baseball teams? Hip-Hop music shook the record industry and created wealth for countless young urban men and women, "Basketball-the-Remix's" goal is to do the same in basketball. Our mission is to provide an avant-garde game track for urban communities to adopt and through said adoption, to create alternative platforms from which new and expanded opportunities can be launched. Sports franchises, strongly rooted in African American communities, provide healthcare and life skill services to and employment opportunities for our young people.

Change the Game Change Communities advocates professionalizing what "Coach" is already doing. You know him/her the community servant, who shapes our youth. They are at your local community center; they work with the kids after-school, help with college applications and provide assistance securing overseas opportunities. Communities across the country use basketball as a tool to help youth stay in school, off the streets and learn the basics of life. Change the Game Change Communities believes the time has come for a for-profit sports franchise with a social mission. We focus on creating competitive athletic entertainment that creates a revenue stream that supports community service initiatives and empowers community coaches to more effectively pursue their passion for developing our youth.

Change the Game Change Communities proposes a new game of basketball, with a new business model, purposed to redirect some of the game's wealth into our communities, which so eagerly support professional basketball.