Newmarket native Matt Kiatipis said one-on-one basketball is something he has done since he was young.
Whether at parks or other basketball courts, he said it was his favourite form of basketball and something he came to prefer over his team basketball career.
“There’s nothing more I love than going one-on-one with somebody,” he said. “There’s nothing more exciting than that. Whether I love, whether I win, I just love competing, just me and him.”
That love has now brought the 21-year-old to the biggest stage of his career, as he prepares to compete in the Ones Basketball League (OBL) championship in Las Vegas July 15 and 16, with $250,000 for the winner. The league run by basketball hall-of-famer Tracy McGrady is bringing in talent from across the U.S., with Kiatipis qualifying by finishing second at a regional qualifier in Houston May 1.
The ones basketball star played the game in high school and college, including DIvision 2 for Simon Fraser University. He said he looked up to local talent Kevin Pangos, who also played for Newmarket High School and went on to the NBA.
“He did everything I wanted to do,” Kiatpis said, “(Newmarket is) mainly a hockey city, I wanted to put basketball on the map for Newmarket … Newmarket means a lot to me.”
But Kiatipis did not end up following the same path. After a professional stint in Costa Rica, he said he found playing under team leagues did not suit him. But he started to see basketball players playing ones on his Instagram feed and decided to give it a shot himself.
“I was already doing this,” he said. “Why don’t I just bring a camera and document it?”
That led him to a burgeoning YouTube channel highlighting his basketball play, with more than 111,000 subscribers and millions of views. He said that led to rappers and professional basketball players following him and connecting with him, as well as more opportunities in ones basketball.
“It sounds a little bit arrogant, but I kind of expected to have something like that happen. I’ve always loved being in front of the camera. I’ve always loved playing basketball. Organized basketball never cut it for me,” he said. “I can entertain people through that camera. There’s no way that doesn’t work.”
His YouTube channel features Kiatipis playing and discussing basketball. One element that Kiatipis said helped earn him notoriety is his “trash-talking.”
“A lot of people think I do trash talk for the cameras,” he said. "I’ve always talked trash because that’s what makes the game fun to me, being able to enter an opponent’s mind and head space … I don’t go over the top, I don't do anything crazy, but trash talk is part of street basketball.”
The YouTube channel HoH invited Kiatipis to a $50,000 creators tournament, which he would win in April. That garnered the attention of the OBL and earned an invite, Kiatipis said.
“OBL talent is top-notch,” McGrady said in a news release. “The competition is intense, and the atmosphere for our first-ever finals will be second to none with $250,000 cash on the OBL throne waiting for the winner.”
The prize money would be a benefit, but Kiatipis said he is not relying on it. He also has a business teaching basketball, his YouTube channel, and an amateur basketball team.
As the youngest competitor in the finals, Kiatipis said he plans to become a big figure for the OBL. He said he hopes he can eventually compete overseas against talent around the world.
“It’s the purest form of basketball, and it’s the most entertaining,” he said.
