Helping kids in Lewis’ game plan
Former NBA star regards new 3-on-3 league as an opportunity for families to get closer
Long before Rashard Lewis was a two-time NBA All-Star, he cultivated a love for the game playing street ball in Houston.
In backyards, driveways — one particular Rice University parking lot, Lewis recalls — he would go 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 with siblings and friends in the Texas summer heat.
“I remember as a kid during the summertime, you know, there’s not a lot going on,” Lewis said. “You try to find things to get into. Something to do.”
For Lewis, that something was sports. And it helped keep him out of trouble.
Growing up in Houston with a father that was in and out of jail, Lewis’ mother and uncle became his role models, keeping the youngest of four involved in football or basketball yearround. While he was always playing sports or watching them on TV, his family was never able to afford tickets to a professional game.
This summer, Lewis wants to change that for kids who might be in a similar situation.
Lewis, 34, returns to the halfcourt this weekend as one of eight team captains in the inaugural season of the BIG3 — a 3-on-3 professional basketball league founded by Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz.
Lewis announced in a Huff-Post op-ed this month that for every paying adult bringing a child
13 years old or younger to a BIG3 game, he would pay for the child to attend for free.
“I think this is a great opportunity for kids, not only to attend a game, but I think the most important part is making time with your parents. Spending that family time and bonding,” Lewis said. “If you want them to do well, you have to guide them in the right direction.”
The league — made up of former NBA stars such as Allen Iverson, Mike Bibby and Chauncey Billups — will travel across the country during a 10week schedule, which kicks off Sunday in Brooklyn and will air on Fox Sports.
Lewis will captain the 3 Headed Monsters, whose roster includes Jason Williams, Kwame Brown, Eddie Basden, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and reserve Hakim Warrick. The team will be coached by Hall of Famer Gary Payton.
When BIG3 commissioner and former teammate Roger Mason Jr. approached Lewis last year with the idea, the decision to join was “a no-brainer.”
“(Mason) told me the details of everything — how they were planning on running it, who was behind it — I was all for it,” Lewis said.
The 6-10 power forward who retired in 2014, needing knee surgery after 16 years in the NBA, entered the 1998 NBA draft directly out of Alief Elsik High School and was picked 32nd overall by Seattle.
He spent the better part of his career with the Sonics, where he averaged 20 or more points in three consecutive seasons, until joining the Orlando Magic in 2007. He later played for the Washington Wizards (20102012) and finally the Miami Heat (2012-2014), with whom he won an NBA championship.
Lewis is excited to play again in front of his three kids: Gianna, Rashard Jr. and Grayson. Gianna, the eldest at 9 years old, gave him a hard time when he decided to leave the game.
“I would tell people I’m finished playing but she would punch me in the stomach and be like ‘No you’re not,’ ” Lewis said. “That’s a big reason I decided to play in the BIG3 league. (My kids) were young at the time I was playing. They would come to games but couldn’t really tell their dad was out there.”
As for his competition, Lewis looks forward to facing off against former teammate Reggie Evans, part of Billups’ team — the Killer 3’s — during Week 4.
“We’ve already been talking trash,” Lewis said. “He’s probably on one of the best teams in the league so we’ve been talking back and forth. … I’m also just excited to be around some of the Hall of Fame coaches like Clyde
Drexler, Dr. J ( Julius Erving), Rick Barry, Gary Payton. Overall, I think it’s just going to be a great atmosphere to be around a lot of legends.”
The sport received an prestige bump June 9 when the International Olympic Committee announced the inclusion of 3-on-3 basketball in the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Lewis thinks the addition will help build excitement around the BIG3 this year, and even sees some of the league’s members as potential Olympians.
“You never know,” Lewis said. “I’m not 100 percent sure if current (NBA) players would even be interested in doing that, so they may have to go to a second avenue and maybe it will be the BIG3 players. To not only attend (the Olympics), but to participate, would be an opportunity some guys like us would never have.”
More than anything, Lewis hopes his involvement and the ticket deal can help connect young fans with players they look up to — an experience a younger Lewis could have only dreamed about.
“Everybody had a role model growing up. Mine was my mom,” Lewis said. “This gives kids a good chance to be inspired by some of their role models. It will be great for these kids to come out and not only support but, you know, we get to interact with these kids and that can go a long way in life.”