Ice Cube has always been the type of individual to step out on faith, or try new things. From leaving his enigmatic rap group where he partnered with Easy E (Rest in Peace) And Dr. Dre, starting his solo career, to being one of the first rappers to star in a popular hood classic, “Boys in the Hood”, Cube has always been one to expand his brand and go into other ventures. From directing movies, producing movies, writing movies, Boys in The Hood as mention above, The classic Friday Trilogy, and now, The big 3.
It is a well known feeling that most rappers want to be basketball players and most basketball players want to be rappers. Ice Cube has went further and started his own professional basketball league. Of course he knew he couldn’t compete with the NBA, so he created a league that will feature retired or former NBA players, a genius move being that many NBA players end up playing too long and getting hurt because they cannot let the game go. On the flip side, NBA fans have players that are their favorite to watch. When your favorite player retires, you must face the reality that you don’t get to see them compete anymore. 3 on 3 half court basketball was the perfect solution.
Former players like Allen Iverson, Chauncey Billups, Al Harrington, and last years MVP Joe Johnson, Stephen Jackson, show that the league has some of the best players that played in the NBA. With the pandemic causing almost everything to shutdown, leagues like the NBA can resume play when the shutdown is lifted. Problem is, everything has to follow a schedule. There is a reason the NBA and WNBA are in opposite seasons. The seasons overlap by about a month typically, when the WNBA starts the NBA is in the 2nd round of the playoffs. So if the NBA starts back, that will delay the WNBA and now The Big 3 will either be pushed back, or shortened maybe? It remains to be seen what actually occurs, but it would be nice to see the league keep its momentum.
With celebrity fans filling the front row seats, clear excitement, WNBA’s Lisa Leslie winning coach of the year, Ice Cube has clearly found something that will be around for a good while. There are many changes, and upgrades that can be added to the league for growth, I hope we will get to see another year of action from The Big 3. There were talks of a Big 3 reality hoops tournament partnering with “Big Brothers” producer, Endemol that will begin sometime in May, as per news on The Big 3 website itself, although there may not be a regular season, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out, because Ice Cube is always a step ahead of the game.