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Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball league is in the midst of its third season, proving that the rapper’s vision for a three-on-three hoops concept could actually appeal to a big audience. Seriously, though, if you’ve never peeped a game from the league, you’re missing out, because it’s actually pretty entertaining — and, as a sports fan, it’s a good thing to get your fill from on a Saturday or Sunday morning.
As Ice Cube continues to try and get the BIG3 league to progress and grow in popularity, he knows that it’s going to take some big-time players to do that. Sure, the league already boasts former All-Stars like Gilbert Arenas, Jermaine O’Neal and Joe Johnson, among a few others, but Ice Cube is aiming high when it comes to getting even better talent.
Appearing in a feature with HBO’s show Real Sports with Bryant Gumble, the former NWA rapper sat down with Andrea Kremer to talk about the league, show her what a BIG3 game looks like in person and gave her access to some of the players to chat about why they joined in the first place. He also revealed his “wish list” of players he wants to target, which includes the likes of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Vince Carter, with Bryant’s participation actually being a rumor started last year.
Now, I doubt a guy of Bryant’s stature would ever play in the BIG3, but, hey, the guy’s a legend in Los Angeles, and, assuming he’s got a solid relationship with another icon in the city, Ice Cube, who’s to say the Lakers legend doesn’t suit up? In the rapper’s eyes, the league “sells itself,” which may be more of a salesperson’s mentality than the truth, but he believes in his product, so why not go for superstars like Bryant, Garnett and Carter — who, at 42 years old, just re-signed with the Atlanta Hawks for his final NBA season.
The BIG3 league is a cool idea and has gotten some attention, so we’ll have to see if Ice Cube’s able to get a few of his “wish list” players to join. There’s nobody of Kobe or KG’s status, and, getting just one of them would go a long way in growing the league even more.