NYC has a new unified basketball league: "The energy is incredible"

A new league is bringing athletes with and without intellectual disabilities together on the basketball court. Fox 8's Kendall Green takes a look at how they're making the game their own in Brooklyn. It's competitive. It's intense. We've got to control our emotionals, control our cool, cool, we've just got to take our time. And it's intentionally unified. I smoked a layup, but it's okay. But, I mean, the energy out here is incredible, man. This week brought Jackson and his teammates their first win on the court. In the league, that's the first of its kind. His mom, the president and CEO of Special Olympics New York, played a role in creating the Unified Basketball League through a partnership with Volo Sports, the nation's largest social sports company. This is a real basketball game with real rules, real officials, just like Volo does it for everybody else. But now we have a chance to do it unified. The energy is amazing. The players are so sweet, so kind. Everybody just working together has been really unified. It's been great. In just four short weeks, both groups have seen the growth that only their partnership forming the Unified Basketball League could create. Every team is an even mix of both players with and without disabilities. But between buzzers, there's no distinction. It's about to trust your teammate and to trust each other. And also it's about organizing and practice and get better. Whether the scoreboard reflects a win or a loss from week to week, the league can't lose. And like most great ideas worth expanding, its potential is an easy bucket. It started here in Brooklyn, but I think it's going to go nationwide. It's very exciting. It's a strong possibility. It's something we all really want to do. Kendall Green, Fox 5 News.