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The Lansing Pharaohs

Looks like Lansing sports fans will have another local team to root for as next summer (2022) the Lansing Pharaohs will be hitting the hardwood.

According to WILX News 10, team owner Chris Jackson has always loved basketball and when The Basketball League approached with an ownership opportunity, he says he felt Lansing and Michigan deserves a pro basketball team and jumped at the chance.

Of course, with team ownership also comes naming said team and that's where Jackson told WILX he kept going back to the theme of "royalty" and in his research he discovered a centuries-old connection relating to ancient Egypt.

“It was interesting for me to find the use of the work ‘Lansing’ in ancient Egypt during the rule of a pharaoh, and so it all came together when we were thinking of the name,” Jackson said. 

Here is Jackson explaining further on the 4G Sportz Podcast and introducing ideas on how his experience in the cannabis industry, owning multiple provisioning centers, can work to his advantage as a team owner:

The Basketball League

So what is The Basketball League (TBL)?

Well, Jackson breaks it down to WILX as: "You would have the majors, the NBA, the G-League is more Triple-A, and we would fall somewhere between Double and Triple-A ball."

The Lansing Pharaohs join fellow Michigan TBL teams, Detroit Hustle and Flint United, and will play against 27 other teams across the country that can be found on The Basketball League website.

While playing basketball and winning are obvious goals for any team, WILX reports Jackson and The Basketball League are all about getting involved with their communities as players are typically from the areas in which they are playing.

"They’re not just signing the shoe, they’re going to the school to support people, they’re giving youth clinics, they’re working in the homeless shelters and nonprofit organizations," league CEO Evelyn Magley told WILX. "They’re literally being ambassadors in the communities in which they live.”

What's Next For The Team

The team has just been announced and there is still work that needs to be done.

Aside from marketing and getting the community involved and excited, WILX shares they do still need to also figure out where they will play and who will be coaching.

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