THREE-ON-THREE THRIVES IN YEAR 3
Co-founder Ice Cube visits our Chat Room to dish on the Big3 league that makes weekend visit to Rosemont.
big3 founder says league is about competition
BY ANNIE COSTABILE | acostabile@suntimes.com | @anniecostabile
Ice Cube’s Big3 basketball league features some of the biggest names in NBA and WNBA history, but the businessman and entertainment mogul says that was never the goal.
He set out to create a competitive basketball league where retired players could continue playing. Don’t be mistaken, Ice Cube is not afraid to cut ties with big names to maintain the highest level of competition. Just this season, the Big3 said goodbye to NBA champion Lamar Odom.
“It is a pro league,” Ice Cube said. “It’s not a celebrity game, or a pick-up game, or an all-star game.”
The Big3, a three-on-three, half-court summer basketball league, is in its third year, a huge accomplishment for a startup sports league. The idea was born out of Ice Cube’s love for basketball. Sick of seeing his favorite NBA players retire after 10 or 15 years in the league, he thought he’d give them a place to continue competing.
“In gyms and rec rooms all over the country, [you] got these great athletes playing basketball who, for whatever reason, there’s no more room for them in the NBA,” Ice Cube said. “So I was like, ‘Why can’t we still see these guys play?’ ”
In 2017, after a year of brainstorming, Ice Cube and cofounder Jeff Kwatinetz established the league.
The inaugural season featured Allen Iverson and coaches Clyde Drexler and Julius Erving.
Ice Cube, who is in Chicago this week for the Big3’s games Saturday afternoon at Allstate Arena, spoke to the SunTimes about the future of the league, how difficult it is to cut players and whether Michael Jordan is someone he’s trying to sign, all during his visit to the Chat Room.