Success of 3-on-3 league vindicates Ice Cube’s belief that fans want more
If you have played basketball, you almost certainly have played some 3-on-3.
But it is unlikely you have played the traditional halfcourt game as it is played in the BIG3.
This isn’t your standard pickup game.
How often have you been privileged to see a host of former NBA players squaring off on the court?
And this isn’t an old-timers’ game. It is serious basketball.
Imagine the movie “White Men Can’t Jump” come to life, in an organized league with players who have legitimate résumés. (Side note: The great
JEROME SOLOMON Commentary
Marques Johnson was in that movie and he is as legit as they come.)
If you come out to the league’s season openers at Toyota Center on Friday — four games in all — you will not see a bunch of has-beens out there messing around.
The old heads, legends all, coach, but they don’t play. Clyde Drexler is the commissioner. Fellow Hall of Famers Rick Barry, Julius Erving, George Gervin and Nancy Lieberman are coaches.
The players are pretty much fresh out of the NBA, some of whom have enough game to still be in the league.
“We had a few who thought this was going to be laid-back and fun, then they learned pretty quick that the competition is real,” BIG3 founder Ice Cube said. “These are pros. There is money on the line.
“You get to see guys, guys you know, compete at a high level. We knew there were a lot of players out there who still had game and wanted to play, and this is an avenue for that.”
Not your driveway game
Ice Cube’s idea is a fascinating venture. Thus far, people have bought into it. Arenas were jumping last summer.
The BIG3 isn’t an NBA competitor — same sport, different game — but in some ways, the entertainment value is a close match. It’s basketball with players far more skilled than the average dribbler.
Three-on-three basketball has come a long way from neighborhood driveways and outdoor courts at local parks. The blacktop tournaments that grew in popularity in the 1990s have become big business.
The BIG3 is striking at the right time.
Three-on-three basketball will make its debut in the 2020 Olympics, and it is likely to be one of the most popular new competitions.
Ice Cube, the legendary rapper and entertainer, who has established an entertainment longevity few predicted possible when he came to prominence in the early 1990s as the chief lyricist for N.W.A, sees the global picture.
It all started with his thought that retiring players still had a lot to give.
“I wanted to see them play more, and I thought others wanted it, too,” Ice Cube said. “And you know they were still balling. So why not do it where we can all watch?”
He was right, as sold-out arenas through last year’s summer run proved.
After that success, the league enters its second season with high hopes. That games will be televised live this season on Fox is an indicator of the league’s potential impact. If that doesn’t tell you this is real, Las Vegas sports books putting odds on the championship is a hint and a half that this is no joke.
The seriousness of the competition — with intensity at a level you would expect from talented players with money on the line — doesn’t carry over to the crowd. The button-down nature of the standard NBA’s lower-bowl attendee doesn’t fit in with this group.
It’s a fun atmosphere, much looser than an NBA game.
“You won’t have more fun at a basketball game than at a BIG3, trust me,” Ice Cube said.
A hearty Houston welcome
Starting the season in Houston, which wasn’t one of the cities the BIG3 played in last year, is part of a hoped-for expansion Ice Cube says should be a 12-team league that plays twice a week in 2019.
Houston is often labeled as a football town — this is Texas — but it produces as many baseball and basketball talents as any city in the country. The BIG3 should be a huge hit here.
This weekend’s games feature several players with local ties like Rashard Lewis and Stephen Jackson, and former Rockets Cuttino Mobley and Metta World Peace.
“We’re a sports town and a city of champions, and Houston loves the game of basketball,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a Wednesday news conference welcoming the BIG3 to town.
As fascinating as the first season of the BIG3 was, this year should be better.
“They know what it’s about now, and they know that if you’re not in shape and balling, you’ll get embarrassed,” Ice Cube said. “There are guys here who can work their way back into the league. They all have something to prove in one way or another.
“That’s what the BIG3 gives them. A chance to play in NBA arenas in front of true basketball fans. The reception has been amazing.”