Ice Cube, and Allen Iverson formally announce the BIG3 (3-on-3 Professional Basketball League).

[Luke_Groundrunner]

 

This morning, Ice Cube, and NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson formally announced the BIG3, 3-on-3 Professional Basketball League. The inaugural season begins June 24, 2017, and will consist of 8 teams. The league was created by rapper/actor Ice Cube.

 

The following nine former NBA players have agreed to play in the new league.

- Allen Iverson
- Rashard Lewis
- Kenyon Martin
- Jermaine O'Neal
- Stephen Jackson
- Chauncey Billups
- Bonzi Wells
- Jason Williams

- Roger Mason, Jr. 

 

Structure

There are a total of 8 Teams with 5 players per team with 1 coach per team. There will be an eight week regular season resulting in and 8 game regular season as all games are on Saturday with a week off between contests.^[3] There will be one playoff game week nine and a championship game week ten.

 

Rules

• Standard 2 and 3 point shots apply
• Exclusive 4 point shots when a player is touching ANY PART of the “4 Point Circle”
• Additional free throw taken if a player is fouled while making a shot
• A shooting foul will receive the number of shots corresponding to the missed attempt (2, 3, 4 points)
• All personal fouls will be counted as team fouls: No foul outs.
• On and after the 5th team foul (per half) opponents get 2 shots and ball possession
• A technical foul results in 2 foul shots & the ball. Every technical foul after the first results in 4 foul shots & ball possession
• First team to 60 Points wins
• Half-time happens after a team scores 30 Points
• Team must win by 4 Points
• Substitutions made on a dead ball or by calling time

 

BIG3.com

[SCalderwood]

I know this is real, but the more I read of this post, the more fake and made up the whole thing sounds.  It reads like an April Fools Joke.  One of those well-crafted April Fool Jokes that sounds fake but is not over-the-top to the point where you know it's fake.

 

Oh well, should be interesting.  I'll at least give it a shot.  It seems almost like a league and set of rules that was created by some kids just messing around, or some kind of NBA Jam-ish video game brought to life.  Maybe it will at least be good for some laughs, I think there will be some funny moments, especially if they take themselves too seriously.  I think it will only work if they realize that they are all basically over the hill and just decide to have fun with it, like a Harlem Globetrotters or all-star game type feel.  I think they will be more successful that way, rather than trying to be a serious league.  I actually think it also might be more funny/enjoyable if they actually recruit washed up former NBA players who are out of shape and still trying to play just to have some fun.  I'm sure that's not at all what they are aiming for, though.

 

I also wonder who exactly their target demographic is.  I'd have to imagine that they are targeting younger fans, based off of basically the entire presentation and premise of it all, but that would be ironic because of how old the players are.  

 

Minor sidenote, I think you forgot to list the 9th former NBA player who will be playing in the league, who I think is Roger Mason, Jr.

[worcat]

Looks like something that would be on Spike TV

[Sykotyk]

1 hour ago, worcat said:

Looks like something that would be on Spike TV

Slamball 2.0

[worcat]

4 minutes ago, Sykotyk said:

Slamball 2.0

Can we just get Rock N Jock? Everyone will be happy

 

[pepis21]

2 hours ago, Luke_Groundrunner said:

Exclusive 4 point shots when a player is touching ANY PART of the “4 Point Circle”

 

 God please let's Antoine Walker will play in that league!

[DG_ThenNowForever]

OK.

 

 

[dfwabel]

Over/under to ACL or Achilles's tears by Week 3?

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

A player who is "washed up" by NBA standards can still be a superb athlete who is capable of play that is beyond everybody in the world apart from the 450 players in the NBA.

 

If the players take this seriously and don't treat it like a series of All-Star Games, this will be great to watch.  And if Kenyon Martin is on board, then that's one guy who's definitely going to take it seriously.

 

One thing that is very smart is the idea that the game ends when a team gets to 60 points.  So none of that tedious fouling that makes the end of every half in regular basketball unwatchable.

 

(But why does Martin not have no. 6?  The numbers and lettering on those jerseys make them look like Nets jerseys.)

 

[2001mark]

4 hours ago, Luke_Groundrunner said:

 

The following nine former NBA players have agreed to play in the new league.

- Allen Iverson
- Rashard Lewis
- Kenyon Martin
- Jermaine O'Neal
- Stephen Jackson
- Chauncey Billups
- Bonzi Wells
- Jason Williams

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I love it. Gary Payton is involved, so I hope there's a Seattle connection.

[Luke_Groundrunner]

4 hours ago, SCalderwood said:

Minor sidenote, I think you forgot to list the 9th former NBA player who will be playing in the league, who I think is Roger Mason, Jr.

 

You're right, I have made the edit to the post.

[Luke_Groundrunner]

3 hours ago, Sykotyk said:

Slamball 2.0

Slamball, now there's a blast from the past. I doubt that this BIG3 league will fall to the level of Slamball. My god, that league was just as bad as that SpikeTV Roller Derby league from that era.

[Sykotyk]

1 hour ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

A player who is "washed up" by NBA standards can still be a superb athlete who is capable of play that is beyond everybody in the world apart from the 450 players in the NBA.

 

If the players take this seriously and don't treat it like a series of All-Star Games, this will be great to watch.  And if Kenyon Martin is on board, then that's one guy who's definitely going to take it seriously.

 

One thing that is very smart is the idea that the game ends when a team gets to 60 points.  So none of that tedious fouling that makes the end of every half in regular basketball unwatchable.

 

(But why does Martin not have no. 6?  The numbers and lettering on those jerseys make them look like Nets jerseys.)

 

 

Basketball is my fourth favorite sport primarily because how almost every close game turns into a free-throw shooting contest. This idea of 'First to 60' and "must win by 4" creates a goal to reach as quickly as possible. Letting another team have a free-throw is counter intuitive. And, winning by four actually creates an immediate and impromptu 'overtime' that can last as long as it's needed.

 

It solves the one big complaint I have with basketball. Too bad the NBA couldn't do 'first to 100'.

8 minutes ago, Luke_Groundrunner said:

Slamball, now there's a blast from the past. I doubt that this BIG3 league will fall to the level of Slamball. My god, that league was just as bad as that SpikeTV Roller Derby league from that era.

Saw two 'episodes' of Slamball. It was fun and interesting, but easily forgotten.

[CubsFanBudMan]

I wish the 4-pointer was called the Big 3 in this league and still worth 4 points, just for absurdity's sake.

 

I wish them well. I always love these small start-ups like Arena Football (who am I kidding, I hung in there until 2010) and Slamball at the beginning, and this will bring back fond memories of playing In Gus Macker tournaments.

[JayMac]

6 hours ago, Luke_Groundrunner said:

Slamball, now there's a blast from the past. I doubt that this BIG3 league will fall to the level of Slamball. My god, that league was just as bad as that SpikeTV Roller Derby league from that era.

Excuse me, it was still The Nashville Network then. 

[crashcarson15]

On 1/12/2017 at 8:04 AM, CubsFanBudMan said:

I wish the 4-pointer was called the Big 3 in this league and still worth 4 points, just for absurdity's sake.

 

I wish them well. I always love these small start-ups like Arena Football (who am I kidding, I hung in there until 2010) and Slamball at the beginning, and this will bring back fond memories of playing In Gus Macker tournaments.

I feel like they missed an opportunity here — play 1’s and 2’s, with the 4-point spot getting to be you suggested “Big 3,” but actually worth 3.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The TrueHoop podcast had a good discussion on BIG3 this week. Most interestingly and importantly, this 3-on-3 league is NOT affiliated with the NBA. Of any of the four major sports, the pro league that could most likely be destroyed by a player revolt would be the NBA. If enough players walked away, guys like LeBron, Carmelo, the Warriors and others could make a pretty major and immediate impact if they decided to start a rogue league.

 

While we're several steps away from that, BIG3 is a step to see what a player-owned, independent basketball league could look like. Or at least how possible it could be. And because it features guys just a couple of years from the league, will be free-flowing, and will be in the summer, it has every chance to succeed.

 

The podcast also said they'll be playing round robin games city-by-city, rather than having city-based teams. So they'll target places like Seattle and New York City that are underserved by pro basketball leagues (ha ha the NYC joke is theirs) and see how it goes. I'd pay whatever it costs to sit at KeyArena to watch Iverson, Billups, Kenyon Martin and others.

[dfwabel]

1 hour ago, DG_Now said:

The TrueHoop podcast had a good discussion on BIG3 this week. Most interestingly and importantly, this 3-on-3 league is NOT affiliated with the NBA. Of any of the four major sports, the pro league that could most likely be destroyed by a player revolt would be the NBA. If enough players walked away, guys like LeBron, Carmelo, the Warriors and others could make a pretty major and immediate impact if they decided to start a rogue league.

 

While we're several steps away from that, BIG3 is a step to see what a player-owned, independent basketball league could look like. Or at least how possible it could be. And because it features guys just a couple of years from the league, will be free-flowing, and will be in the summer, it has every chance to succeed.

 

The podcast also said they'll be playing round robin games city-by-city, rather than having city-based teams. So they'll target places like Seattle and New York City that are underserved by pro basketball leagues (ha ha the NYC joke is theirs) and see how it goes. I'd pay whatever it costs to sit at KeyArena to watch Iverson, Billups, Kenyon Martin and others.

As soon as I saw that you made a new post to this thread, I knew that you listened to TrueHoop and I needed to quickly.

 

So after listening to them talk, Amin had it correct that capital would be the issue with a breakaway league, but isn't necessarily for new arenas, it is to cover labor cost. Current NBA leases would likely keep them out of the current venues, but that doesn't then require new f'n venues!

 

As for the BIG3 as a concept, the travelling aspect sounds great, but also very costly. No need to rent a major arena for this, just get a convention center space as one of the guys mentioned, or a smaller university arena which sells booze.

 

Oh and Rick Barry is gonna be a coach too.  Punches are now more likely to be thrown!

 

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/25/rick-barry-coaching-in-ice-cubes-3-on-3-basketball-league/

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Yeah, Amin was a bit off in his assertions, but you can forgive him after the week he's had.

 

The conversation was really good though, and moved the posts from "LOL dumb jocks" to "this might actually be something to pay attention to."

 

Even if it only lasts this summer, a good idea is a good idea.