Errick McCollum and the Overseas Elite Dynasty

Errick McCollum is an accomplished overseas basketball player, the older brother of Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum. Errick and his team, Overseas Elite, have gained popularity and established themselves as a dynasty in The Basketball Tournament, an open tournament with a $2 million prize to be shared by the winning team. When McCollum went to cash in his first prize check for winning TBT, he wasn’t sure if it’d clear, as he told Tim Casey of Deadpsin in a profile:

But McCollum was skeptical. The games were real, the competition exactly as formidable as advertised, but he still thought that maybe it was still somehow a scam. After all, no tournament had ever provided its winners with so much money. And then the teller told him the bank would put a hold on the check. “I was like, ‘Okay, we’ll see what’s going to happen,’” McCollum said. “And then it actually went through. I was like, ‘Okay, this is official.’ No disrespect to TBT, but you never heard of a tournament [like this].”

McCollum has had more checks to cash since then. Overseas Elite just secured its fourth straight TBT title. But the dynasty’s run might be over. McCollum’s team features several experienced overseas players, and some would prefer to take time off than chase another title:

Overseas Elite’s players, as the name suggests, spend nine or 10 months of their year playing professionally in such far-flung countries as China, Dubai, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Morocco and Turkey. They don’t typically return to the U.S. until their seasons end in late May or early June. By then, they are tired and want to relax with their family and friends during the brief period each year in which they get to spend some time at home.

McCollum has been one of Overseas Elite’s core players, and he’s just happy to have been a part of the team:

McCollum recalled that opening weekend in 2015 when only five guys showed up for the first game. If Overseas Elite had to forfeit, McCollum had planned to go to the Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio. Instead, he stuck with the team. He was there from the beginning and played a pivotal role throughout the past four summers. If this is the end of the line, it’s a ride that he was happy to take. “As I get older, I’ll look back on this,” he said. “It’ll be something that I hold fondly as a great memory.”

You can read more insight from Casey on McCollum, the Overseas Elite dynasty and The Basketball Tournament here.