Breakaway and alternate sports leagues are becoming more fashionable by the day. Whilst the Saudi Arabian PIF looks to make its way into the hearts of golf fans, basketball is not immune to similar off-brand promotions looking to make a name for their own league.
BIG3 is a professional basketball league that is currently played in the 3x3x3 format, and it is made of 12 teams.
The players come from a pool of former NBA stars and other retired big names and it was started way back in 2017 by Ice Cube, known for his time in music and television, as well as industry executive, Jeff Kwatinetz.
How does BIG3 work?
The league was started on American soil, with much of the early planning work done in the United States.
Ice Cube announced the creation of the league at a New York press conference, although the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the league’s progress for a while.
Three full seasons were played in the U.S before the 2021 edition was relocated to the Bahamas. In 2022 it returned to the States before BIG3’s business team realized they could make more of a splash by travelling with their product.
As such, the final of the 2023 season was played at the O2 Arena in London.
The league has 12 teams that are coached by some of the most famous names on the NBA circuit.
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Charles Oakley coaches the Killer 3’s, whilst Julius ‘Dr. J’ Irving is the coach of Tri-State.
The regular season lasts eight days and there are four games played on each day. The rules are different to conventional basketball in the sense that there is no timer, but the game ends when one of the two teams hit 50 points.
Which former NBA stars have played in BIG3?
BIG3 has seen a number of iconic names feature, with perhaps the biggest being Allen Iverson as a player-coach.
Charles Oakley of New York Knicks fame and Jason Williams have also participated in the league. Gary Payton has also been part of the league as a player-coach.
Other big names include Lamar Odom, Allen Iverson,Kenyon Martin, Baron Davis, Amar’e Stoudemire and Rashad McCants.