Mo Dioubate says friends and family are already asking for tickets to Champions Classic in NYC

Alabama transfer Mo Dioubate is proud of his roots as a New Yorker, growing up in Queens and staying in the Northeast at Putnam Science Academy before taking his talents to Tuscaloosa. He remembers playing pick-up in NYC, whatever game setup he could come up with at any given moment — five-on-five, three-on-three, one-on-one, anything. It’s where he learned his toughness and physicality, usually because he had to play with his big brother against older kids in the area, so he had no choice but to toughen up.

“Playing outside every day,” he said. “… You don’t want to be that guy to get exposed every time, so I was playing with older guys since I was younger and they were all really physically. They were all bigger than me, so it just made me want to play harder. … That was just my environment.”

Don’t even think to call fouls, either.

“They know it’s gonna turn into a whole fight and a whole argument for 5-10 minutes. … If you call foul, they’re gonna call you soft and tell you to get off the court. So a lot of guys just don’t call fouls.”

His reputation as a tough, hard-nosed defender came from those courts. Now, he gets to return to that area for the very first time as a Wildcat this season, Kentucky traveling to New York City to take on Michigan State in the Champions Classic in November.

That one is scheduled for Nov. 18, and it’s the one game he has on his calendar. Well, two, including Louisville — everyone has that one circled, every year.

“We play at Madison Square Garden, and that’s my hometown — so, obviously, that’s going to be my ‘welcome home’ moment,” Dioubate said. “I haven’t played in New York since I’ve been in college, so that’s a game I can say I’m looking forward to a lot. Oh, and Louisville [smiles].”

It’s cool for the new Kentucky forward, suiting up in the most iconic venue in sports history in MSG. Across two seasons at Alabama, earning champion status in high school at PSA or any all-star events before college, he’s never played there.

Now, he gets his chance — and his friends and family are already begging for tickets, despite summer workouts just starting and that game still five months away.

“Yeah, I got people already asking me for tickets. I don’t even have tickets yet,” he joked. “Everyone is going to try to come to that game. Hopefully everyone from the city can make it. It’s going to be a good show.”

As a homegrown New York native out of Queens, it must be a surreal moment to play on the same floor as the Knicks as a lifelong fan, right? Well, that part is complicated.

He claims the Knickerbockers now because they’re winning games and making deep postseason runs, but that hasn’t always been the case. He tried his hardest as a kid, but, unfortunately, the franchise never won much of anything and he was tired of getting his heart broken by the orange and blue.

That’s why he started cheering for the Lakers.

“The Knicks — well, if I’m being honest, I’m not a bandwagon fan,” Dioubate said. “Like, I wasn’t a big Knicks fan growing up as a kid. It wasn’t until I got the older — because they used to lose every year. It was hard to support the Knicks every year because they’d just lose, then they’d lose the next year.

“They just keep breaking your heart, so I was just a Lakers fan as a kid.”

Tough look, but understandable. He’s happy to root for them now and will certainly enjoy playing on their home floor as a Kentucky Wildcat when they take on the Spartans on college basketball’s biggest and brightest stage later this year.

Just don’t ask him for tickets yet — he still hasn’t gotten his hands on any, unfortunately.