Why are we shaking things up?
Muslim Basketball is an organization with a founding purpose, that has gained new purposes along the way. Our primary mission is to offer the Muslim Community (first in NJ, and now beyond) a platform to play basketball, and build brotherhood while doing so. During the years, many of our Muslim players began bringing their non-Muslim friends, and thus, our goals expanded to not just serving the Muslim Community, but to also offer a space where non-Muslims can interact with Muslims, learn about us, and build bridges. This goal remains essential. With that said, Muslims aged 18-39 remain our target audience. Over the last couple of years, our target audience has become diluted (Winterball ’22 was our lowest concentration of our target audience in league history with continuous decreases over the last 6 seasons), and this phenomena has also driven up the competition level to unsustainable levels (8 continuous seasons of increased skill level growth; 56% of non-target audience players have a better MBR in that period vs only 26% of the target audience), further edging out longtime frequent players from our Target Audience group. We’re hoping to use this season to refocus the leagues commitment to our Target Audience, while also serving in equitable proportion the full audience of interested players.

Why is this season invitational?
Muslim Basketball is trying something new, and we want to be sure to try this exciting new concept with loyal members of our Target Audience, as well use this as an opportunity to re-integrate target audience players that have been edged out over the years.

Will we ever see the traditional league again?
Of course! We hope to have our usual league model up and running again, potentially with some new measures to ensue that our target audience has a chance to play, and compete. Stay tuned!

Why a draft league?
A draft league offers an opportunity for us to reset the mold in a unique and fun way and allows us to re-prioritize brotherhood in a way that shakes up teams a little, leading to new and strengthened bonds.

How will brotherhood be prioritized?
We plan on carving out time to pray maghreb together every week. We also plan on creating a group chat for all players to communicate. Lastly, we will introduce a new charity model, where each team will play for the chance to win a cash prize that benefits a community facing organization.

How does the draft work?
By the time of the draft, 64 players will have registered and paid. All registered and paid players are guaranteed a spot in league and are Draft eligible. 8 selected captains (experienced MB captains with good track records) will be responsible for Drafting teams of 8. Captains are instructed to select based off impartial judgement, rather than personal favor / bias.

• July 9th captains will receive their draft position
  
• July 9th The full pool of available players will be available
  
• July 12th Captains will convene at Bite Food & Coffee Co. in Fair Lawn to conduct the live in person draft. Team results will be posted by EOD.

What if I don’t like my team after the draft? Are there refunds?
The team you are drafted to is the team you will play for. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind and develop bonds and brotherhood with their team.
Do captains have to use a pick on themselves?
Once all 64 draft eligible players are finalized, all players will be divided into 8 tranches based on MBR. Whichever tranche a captain falls into, will be the pick they must use on themselves.

What if a player drops midseason or at any point after the draft?
The captain will notify the Commissioners, and the Commissioners will offer a selection of players of similar skill level as a replacement.
What do I do if I have an issue with my captain?
Please notify the Commissioners via email at Commissioner@muslimbasketball.org promptly.

Can I bring a guest?
Guests are encouraged if a team has 6 or less of their roster players in attendance. Guests must be players with at least 5 games of existing MB experience, and must be from the same MBR tranche the player best player they are replacing falls into or below. Guests are permitted to be players from other teams if the need arises.