Ice Cube Launching Basketball League For Retired NBA Players
At the beginning of the 2016-2017 NBA season, ESPN tweeted this little stat that instantly made a lot of people feel old:
This will make you feel old. pic.twitter.com/wENGRp37eM
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 21, 2016
West Coast legend Ice Cube may or may not have seen the tweet, but ever seeking to expand his repertoire past music and film, he seized the opportunity to give his favorite retired players another shot at glory on the court. Cube plans on launching Big3, a 3-on-3, half-court summer basketball league featuring retired NBA players and coaches, this coming June. He told The Vertical how he came up with the league:
I thought of this concept as a fan who got sick of seeing his heroes retire and not play anymore. A lot of these guys can still play once they retire –- just not the back-to-backs or four games in five nights. I started to look at three-on-three basketball and wondered, “Why isn’t this played on a pro level?” It’s the most normal form of basketball. And from there it was like, “Yo, why don’t we make this happen?”
Retired yet recognizable names like Jason Williams, Kenyon Martin, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, and Rashard Lewis have all signed on to play. Supersonics legend Gary Payton will also coach a team. Former player and current NBA Players Association Deputy Executive Director Roger Mason will be resigning from his position to join the league as well. Rather than situating teams in certain cities, the league will apparently be a touring event à la WWE wrestling.
I hope Cube gets on the court himself to mess around and have a triple-double. Probably not considering that broke jumper he brought out in several celebrity all-star games.