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Netherlands earned the right to say it has the best 3×3 men’s basketball team on the planet after its squad won a gold medal at the Olympics in Paris, and Ice Cube claims FIBA is stopping the BIG3 from putting the claim to the test by blocking an exhibition game the league proposed in the wake of their win on the international stage.
America once again cleaned up at the Olympics as far as traditional basketball is concerned after the men and women representing Team USA secured a gold medal in the five-on-five competition, but the country that invented the sport treated fans back at home to a fairly underwhelming performance in the 3×3 event that initially debuted at the Games in Tokyo.
The women’s team was able to secure a bronze after losing to Spain in a semifinal marred by some questionable officiating, but the men’s team failed to make it out of the group stage thanks in part to an injury that knocked Jimmer Fredette out of contention for the majority of their games.
When everything was said and done, the men’s team representing the Netherlands (comprised of Jan Driessen, Dimeo van der Horst, Arvin Slagter, and Worthy de Jong) took home the gold medal in thrilling fashion with a wild walk-off buzzer-beater in overtime to stun France on its home turf.
Prior to the team’s win, BIG3 co-founder Ice Cube announced he was confident enough in the ability of the best players in his 3×3 league to host the gold medalists for an exhibition game where the winning side would walk away with bragging rights in addition to $150,000, and the gauntlet was officially thrown down after the Netherlands topped the podium.
We officially challenge @3x3nl to a game vs the BIG3 All Stars in Boston on August 18th. All travel expenses will be paid for. Winner takes home $150,000 https://t.co/1HMbZ5Su3Q
— BIG3 (@thebig3) August 5, 2024
However, the rapper-turned-entrepreneur claims FIBA stepped in to stop the Netherlands from accepting the challenge, as he says the governing body told the Dutch squad they weren’t allowed to compete against the BIG3 All-Stars after they agreed to take part in the competition.
BIG3 co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz echoed that sentiment while shedding some more light on the situation in a tweet where he asserted FIBA threatened to ban the Netherlands from competing in the 3×3 Europe Cup that will kick off in Vienna, Austria on August 22nd if they headed to Boston for the friendly.
FIBA has little to gain and plenty to lose by allowing the Dutch to face off against the BIG3 All-Stars, as it obviously has plenty of incentive to ensure all of those players are healthy for the Europe Cup and—more importantly—would have trouble positioning the Olympics as the crown jewel of 3×3 competitions if the gold medal winner failed to top their opposition.
They’d also be giving Ice Cube and the BIG3 plenty of free publicity by allowing the Netherlands to participate in what is a PR stunt more than anything else; I can’t say I go out of my way to watch BIG3 games, but I probably would’ve made an exception for that one.
However, if the Dutch were indeed down to take part, it’s hard not to paint FIBA as the bad guy here.