Kids from all over the world are playing one-on-one for a Jordan Brand deal – and maybe more

The year was 2005, and Michael Jordan was retired – for real this time.

Well, retired at least from playing professional basketball. After 15 seasons, six championships, and just as many NBA Finals MVPs, the GOAT finally had both feet firmly off the court and in the boardroom, running his Jordan Brand empire while looking to keep the lifeblood of the game alive.

That year, an advertisement for the Air Jordan XX, starring Spike Lee as the character Mars Blackmon, recounted the tales of Jordan’s magical playing career, from getting cut in high school to triumphantly becoming arguably the best player the sport had ever seen.

As kids crowd Lee in the spot, the story comes not to an end but rather to a ‘to be continued.’ Lee makes mention of someone, somewhere still practicing with the same fire that drove Jordan, as the youngsters ask who it is without realizing that it could be them.

The commercial closes with a question: Will you be the one?

Two decades later, and with 40 signature Air Jordan models under its belt, Jordan Brand is set on answering that exact question. This time, the search for the one meant to fill MJ’s famous shoes is less rhetorical and more out of the mud. 

Jordan Brand’s The One, a global one-on-one basketball tournament where teen talent compete for an ambassador deal, is putting Spike Lee’s nostalgic casting call into action.

“We’re looking for athletes who bring something distinct to the court,” Jordan Brand president Sarah Mensah told Andscape. “Whether it’s grit, creativity, or a fearless approach to competition.”

At face value, it’s basketball’s version of American Idol, allowing a bubbling baller or off-the-radar talent the chance to get discovered. The international aspect of it widens the reach, providing a platform for kids across the globe to not just get featured in free shoes and paid posts, but also attract the attention of scouts at each level.

“The One is designed to surface talent that reflects the global diversity and edge of the game,” said Mensah. “Regardless of how big their platform is.” 

Entering its second season, this much is true.

Last year, the debut of The One crowned Parisian point guard Steve Bah as the boys’ winner, while Chino Hills (Calif.) hooper Tatiana Griffin took home the title on the girls’ side.

Each champion had to dog it out in one-on-one battles in regional brackets around the world before cutting down the nets and signing a Jordan Brand deal once they won their title matchups in France.

In the time since, Bah has laced up his Air Jordans as a member of Cameroon’s U19 Team and played professionally in France for Aix Maurienne Savoie Basket.

In the Western Hemisphere, Griffin has been heralded as the best ninth grader NBA trainer Chris Brickley has ever worked with, winning a gold medal this summer as a star on Team USA’s U16 roster at the FIBA AmeriCup Tournament.

The Cinderella story of a 14-year-old phenom beating every player on her path from California to France is one Hollywood can’t write. It’s also one that’s put her on the map.

“Since I’ve won The One, I feel like everybody knows me from everywhere,” Griffin told Andscape. “It gave me a new platform to step on because I didn’t feel like I was that known.”

That platform offers media opportunities with The Players Tribune and Overtime Elite, as well as a partnership with Invisalign. At 15, she’s ranked No. 7 in the nation for all girls’ high school basketball players on ESPN rankings regardless of class, and she’s No. 1 overall in the class of 2028.

More than that, she’s found fans in every arena she enters.

“I just came from the Stephen Curry camp and this dude made me sign a picture of when I won The One,” a smiling Griffin said of the NBA star. “He was like, ‘I was watching you on Twitch!’”

In its second year, The One is well underway; finals are on Aug. 23 in New York City. Regional qualifiers were in more than 15 locations, spanning from Shanghai to Mexico City, with some contestants already reaching out to Griffin for advice.

For many competitors who signed up through the encouragement of a coach or after an early exit last year, partaking in the 2025 The One finals is not just a chance at elevating their name but a paid trip to a city they’ve never visited.

“I’ve never been to New York,” 17-year-old Chicago point guard Jayden Riley told Andscape. “And I’m not just going to New York to go to New York. I’m getting a top-notch experience while it’s my first time.”

Like many contestants, it took a village to sign up the confident kid who compares his shifty game to a smaller version of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder star guard. Chicago State assistant coach Eddie Denard reached out to Riley’s mother, soon signing him up for the first outdoor tournament he’d participated in since he was a 6-year-old and competing in a local 3-v-3 competition.

Playing in perhaps the only regional arm of The One where double rims and odd-shaped backboards altered shots, the 6-foot-2 Riley beat everyone in his way. Growing up in the Windy City, he’s well-prepared to adjust to adversity and never overlook unknown competition.

“Everybody doesn’t play on the high school team, so some people might be outside at 15 and be better than the people who play on the team,” said Riley. “It’s crazy. Everybody can hoop in Chicago.”

Just the same, flying across the country to compete and landing in The Big Apple has already shown him that regional styles still exist outside, even as the game has grown more common in the era of travel teams and trainers.

“Everybody has different play styles,” Riley said. “Chicago, downhill with the handle. New York, they’re with the handle. New Jersey, same thing. But California, they’re more calm, relaxed, and smoother with a cool demeanor. It’s crazy.”

The variance in style translates to that of overseas. There’s a good chance Riley will run up against Kervy Mabaya, a bruising 6-foot-6 forward from London who had to overcome a 10-0 deficit in his regional final to get to New York.

Like Riley, Mabaya has never been to New York. Unlike Riley, the 18-year-old from the UK has experience in The One. Last year, he was upset in his first game, losing his composure and overwhelmed by the crowd.

“I lost my first game and my head was everywhere,” Mabaya told Andscape. “But the second time, I was hungry, looking for redemption. There was no way anyone was beating me, no way.”

The bumps and bruises of competing in The One have given Mabaya a boxing approach to head-on-head competition, taking timeouts when needed to confer with his coach on his opponents’ weaknesses while capitalizing on his strengths.

Back home in London, it would mean the world to Mabaya’s family and his country if he brought back the crown. Equally important, it would elevate his exposure as he hopes to take his talents to the next level and get the same interests his club teammates currently receive.

“Everyone around me, they’re getting [college] offers,” Mabaya said. “I’m the only one that is just there at school. When I win this, it’d make my family so proud.”

Across basketball culture, the game is truly global as international players have taken home NBA MVP honors in seven straight seasons. Face-of-the-league questions and uncertainty about the game’s future loom beyond the commercial spot brought out by Lee and Jordan Brand 20 years ago.

The advent of NIL (name, image and likeness) and the pressure to operate like a pro have led many to wonder if formalization and compensation have sullied the love and imagination that made basketball beautiful.

To those at Jordan Brand, bringing the lifeblood back to basketball is a blend of adapting to the times and returning to the heart of the game. That’s the intensity, individuality, and innovation that stem from competition at its most innate core.

“One-on-one basketball strips the game down to its essence – skill, mindset, and heart,” said Mensah. “It’s the ultimate test, and it’s deeply personal.”

For players looking to prove themselves in The One, it’s a chance to show a side of their game that AAU and high school basketball don’t always allow.

“I’m a big team player,” said 16-year-old Addison Uphoff, a 6-foot shooting guard from Los Angeles who made it to the third round last year and advanced to the finals this year. “But being able to show you can play individually is important.”

Across the city, this duality is evident, as seen in Griffin’s growth on the local, national and international scenes since winning the The One girls’ title in 2024.

“One-on-one competition is very different,” Griffin said. “You can’t swing the rock, it’s no breaks. You’ve gotta keep going at it, and that’s where you really learn to play.”

With a gold medal to her name and new Jordans on her feet, Griffin’s growth in exposure and opportunity is a case study for what winning The One can do for your playing career and personal brand.

It’s an example of which the 2025 contestants are keenly aware.

“It’d mean a lot,” Uphoff said. “The ambassadorship, it’d be a huge door opener. It’d give me a lot more contacts and windows to go through.”

Inside the C-suites at Jordan Brand, the global grassroots talent search represents a major shift from the online instant gratification that dominates modern marketing.

Mensah said The One is “ambitious by design,” which said a lot when considering the big risks Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand are best known for when playing at the top of their game.

Twenty years ago, it was an ‘ambitious design’ that defined the Air Jordan XX and drove the Spike Lee spot that asked a crowd of kids who would be ‘The One,’ referencing the brazen drive it would take to be the next Michael Jordan.

Around the world, a select subset of players are approaching basketball in its most bare bones form with that same ferociousness, battling it out for a chance at a contract but more so the bragging rights to say they’re the best.

“Everyone’s human,” said Mabaya after landing in New York. “No one is impossible to beat.”