I was Routing for Mahmoud but can't deny trilogy's greatness. We will be able to tell our grand kids we witnessed perfection
OFFICIAL: BIG3 League Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Rev
- Start date
Rocket Scientist
Superstar
Do they keep the same teams next year?Or will they draft different players?
youre trying to flip the argument. I'm too savvy for that.
THE POINT: the week it was known ahead of time that Iverson wouldn't be involved, is also the week of their worst attendance, despite it being championship day.
David_TheMan
Banned
It was known in Seattle Iverson would not be involved seeing that he was suspended, and they had a great turnout.
So you literally aren't making any point at all.
Its alright breh, AI will be back to drinking and druggin and chasing trannys off Cube's dime very soon. You can cape for him outside the cheesecake factory
Iverson was in seattle.
if youre getting that mixed up with the week he was suspended, they took their time announcing it after they sold enough tickets. they didn't announce it right away like youre insinuating.
off of cube's dime???? I'm sure ice cube has some stake in it since its his brainchild, but he doesn't own the league breh.
I don't cape for anybody. I actually think that they have picked up enough steam for next season, that if they get enough big names, they wont have to lean on Iverson's name next year. youre just coming off like youre easy to hustle.
The BIG3 plans to go even bigger for its second season
The BIG3 plans to go even bigger for its second season
The BIG3 will have a second season. That alone could be enough to consider the first a success.
Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz conceived and executed on their idea of a 3-on-3 league for retired NBA players in a span of about 15 months, and the result was a season of solid crowds, solid ratings and solid play. Through a severe time crunch, tape-delayed television, injuries, a missing Hall of Famer, a title game relocation and, most recently, a strange lawsuit, the BIG3 persevered — even thrived.
Give them an actual offseason, they say, and things will only improve.
“Our only enemy this year was time, and I want to fix that,” Ice Cube said. “Now we have the time do everything better, so I expect us to do everything better. Before, it was, ‘All-hands-on-deck, let’s get it done.’ Now it’s, ‘Let’s get it done right.’”
Ice Cube, BIG3 CEO Amy Trask and commissioner Roger Mason Jr. spoke with For The Win last week to break down where the league went right, wrong and everything in between during its first season. All three emphasized that many of the hiccups, public and otherwise, came from that element of rushing. But most startup sports leagues struggle in Year 1, and BIG3 leadership is unwavering in its enthusiasm for the future.
First, though, that lawsuit. Carl George, who founded the 5-on-5 Champions Basketball League, is suing BIG3 for $250,000 because he claims the league duped him by having players sign exclusive contracts and stealing proprietary ideas, according to the New York Daily News.
“The BIG3 was aware that it signed at least 20 players who also signed contracts with the CBL,” the lawsuit claims, according to the Daily News.
The suit also claims that Ice Cube confronted players about their desire to play in the CBL.
“The lawsuit is nothing more than the obvious deflection of a desperate man and a financially disintegrating organization,” BIG3 attorney Mark Geragos said in a statement to For The Win, the league’s first since the lawsuit was filed Friday.
But adversity is nothing new for the BIG3. Many criticized the league for relying on players in their late-30s and 40s, and the proof came immediately: Jason Williams and Corey Maggette both had season-ending injuries in the opening week. Allen Iverson and Chauncey Billups, the two best NBA players to join the league, combined to miss more games than they played, with Iverson’s absences becoming the subject of intense scrutiny from fans and media alike.
Next-day broadcasts on Fox Sports 1 drew solid ratings, but the live championship game‘s success showed the limitations of tape delay. That issue, the BIG3 executives claim, was rooted in the lack of time — Fox had less than six months to figure out a broadcast strategy — and exemplifies why BIG3 leadership is so confident in putting out a better product next season. Strong attendance was encouraging, and ideas ranging from community outreach events to tailgate-style parties on game day were mentioned as ways to improve the fan experience.
“What we did this year … in seeing this from vision to execution, in an incredibly truncated time, is stupendous,” said Trask, the former Oakland Raiders CEO who joined the BIG3 two months before its season began. “But now we’ve got one season under our belt, and we can try edgy, different, fun things in the community.”
Those same paths to improvement could help the on-court product. The first season was heavily physical, and teams — other than undefeated champion Trilogy — often struggled to figure out which strategies would work best in a half-court setting where, unlike in FIBA rules, points are counted by 2s and 3s (and 4s). While buzz grows for potential newcomers including Paul Pierce and Lamar Odom, Mason says the returnees’ improvements also should boost the league.
“A lot of the players, they didn’t quite know from a competitive standpoint and skill standpoint, what professional 3-on-3 basketball would look like in the BIG3,” said Mason, a 10-year NBA veteran who might be playing in the BIG3 if he weren’t commissioner. “So with that, they trained for basketball not really knowing this game.”
Mason also highlighted the league’s fantasy games as a method of fan outreach, which highlights one of the key elements to this league’s long-term future. The BIG3 has never seen itself as a roadshow or autograph opportunity. Its leadership pushes back against nostalgia even as it relies on players who inspire so much of it. The BIG3 wants to be seen as a professional sports league, not a sideshow for bored NBA fans in the summer.
The good and bad of that ambition came through in the Iverson ordeals. The 76ers legend announced less than an hour before tipoff in Philadelphia that he would not be playing, only coaching his 3’s Company team. That inspired boos and early exits from fans. Iverson then failed to show up for a trip to Dallas, leading the BIG3 to suspend him for a game.
Iverson was the face of the league and its promotions, the only Basketball Hall of Famer on its roster. BIG3 leadership often acknowledged his importance in getting this league off the ground but refused to treat him differently in terms of expectations or importance. During the season, Kwatinetz repeatedly disputed that Iverson fans in Philadelphia and Chicago left disappointed because they still saw him coach and still watched good games (though chants of “We Want Iverson” broke out in the middle of the Philly game). And when Iverson skipped Dallas, the suspension was simply the league following its own rules.
“One thing I can’t do and won’t do is try to script games where they come out like some WWE kind of (expletive),” Ice Cube said. “It has to play out. It’s sports. … For me, setting the stage, that’s about as much as I could do. From there, it was on Allen Iverson. It was up to him whether he performed or not, and I couldn’t do it for him. I felt like as a league, we did what we were supposed to do.
“How we handled it as a league, to me, got us a lot of respect as a league. We handled Allen Iverson just like we would have handled Maurice Evans. Miss a game, get suspended. We’ve been consistent. … And if Allen Iverson tries next year to be part of the BIG3, we hope he handles certain things differently.”
Ice Cube speaks with great pride when it comes to the BIG3. He knows that much of this league’s first-season success can be attributed to his own (and Iverson’s) star power, that deals with Fox and 10 major venues probably don’t come together without that kind of name recognition.
He also plans to do “whatever it takes” to ensure this league extends beyond his shadow and ends up “etched into the hearts and minds of sports fans.”
“There were so many people with so many doubts that I expected would get this, that would see this vision we had,” he said. “It was surprising that people really couldn’t see how big we wanted to make the BIG3.”
The BIG3 plans to go even bigger for its second season
The BIG3 will have a second season. That alone could be enough to consider the first a success.
Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz conceived and executed on their idea of a 3-on-3 league for retired NBA players in a span of about 15 months, and the result was a season of solid crowds, solid ratings and solid play. Through a severe time crunch, tape-delayed television, injuries, a missing Hall of Famer, a title game relocation and, most recently, a strange lawsuit, the BIG3 persevered — even thrived.
Give them an actual offseason, they say, and things will only improve.
“Our only enemy this year was time, and I want to fix that,” Ice Cube said. “Now we have the time do everything better, so I expect us to do everything better. Before, it was, ‘All-hands-on-deck, let’s get it done.’ Now it’s, ‘Let’s get it done right.’”
Ice Cube, BIG3 CEO Amy Trask and commissioner Roger Mason Jr. spoke with For The Win last week to break down where the league went right, wrong and everything in between during its first season. All three emphasized that many of the hiccups, public and otherwise, came from that element of rushing. But most startup sports leagues struggle in Year 1, and BIG3 leadership is unwavering in its enthusiasm for the future.
First, though, that lawsuit. Carl George, who founded the 5-on-5 Champions Basketball League, is suing BIG3 for $250,000 because he claims the league duped him by having players sign exclusive contracts and stealing proprietary ideas, according to the New York Daily News.
“The BIG3 was aware that it signed at least 20 players who also signed contracts with the CBL,” the lawsuit claims, according to the Daily News.
The suit also claims that Ice Cube confronted players about their desire to play in the CBL.
“The lawsuit is nothing more than the obvious deflection of a desperate man and a financially disintegrating organization,” BIG3 attorney Mark Geragos said in a statement to For The Win, the league’s first since the lawsuit was filed Friday.
But adversity is nothing new for the BIG3. Many criticized the league for relying on players in their late-30s and 40s, and the proof came immediately: Jason Williams and Corey Maggette both had season-ending injuries in the opening week. Allen Iverson and Chauncey Billups, the two best NBA players to join the league, combined to miss more games than they played, with Iverson’s absences becoming the subject of intense scrutiny from fans and media alike.
Next-day broadcasts on Fox Sports 1 drew solid ratings, but the live championship game‘s success showed the limitations of tape delay. That issue, the BIG3 executives claim, was rooted in the lack of time — Fox had less than six months to figure out a broadcast strategy — and exemplifies why BIG3 leadership is so confident in putting out a better product next season. Strong attendance was encouraging, and ideas ranging from community outreach events to tailgate-style parties on game day were mentioned as ways to improve the fan experience.
“What we did this year … in seeing this from vision to execution, in an incredibly truncated time, is stupendous,” said Trask, the former Oakland Raiders CEO who joined the BIG3 two months before its season began. “But now we’ve got one season under our belt, and we can try edgy, different, fun things in the community.”
Those same paths to improvement could help the on-court product. The first season was heavily physical, and teams — other than undefeated champion Trilogy — often struggled to figure out which strategies would work best in a half-court setting where, unlike in FIBA rules, points are counted by 2s and 3s (and 4s). While buzz grows for potential newcomers including Paul Pierce and Lamar Odom, Mason says the returnees’ improvements also should boost the league.
“A lot of the players, they didn’t quite know from a competitive standpoint and skill standpoint, what professional 3-on-3 basketball would look like in the BIG3,” said Mason, a 10-year NBA veteran who might be playing in the BIG3 if he weren’t commissioner. “So with that, they trained for basketball not really knowing this game.”
Mason also highlighted the league’s fantasy games as a method of fan outreach, which highlights one of the key elements to this league’s long-term future. The BIG3 has never seen itself as a roadshow or autograph opportunity. Its leadership pushes back against nostalgia even as it relies on players who inspire so much of it. The BIG3 wants to be seen as a professional sports league, not a sideshow for bored NBA fans in the summer.
The good and bad of that ambition came through in the Iverson ordeals. The 76ers legend announced less than an hour before tipoff in Philadelphia that he would not be playing, only coaching his 3’s Company team. That inspired boos and early exits from fans. Iverson then failed to show up for a trip to Dallas, leading the BIG3 to suspend him for a game.
Iverson was the face of the league and its promotions, the only Basketball Hall of Famer on its roster. BIG3 leadership often acknowledged his importance in getting this league off the ground but refused to treat him differently in terms of expectations or importance. During the season, Kwatinetz repeatedly disputed that Iverson fans in Philadelphia and Chicago left disappointed because they still saw him coach and still watched good games (though chants of “We Want Iverson” broke out in the middle of the Philly game). And when Iverson skipped Dallas, the suspension was simply the league following its own rules.
“One thing I can’t do and won’t do is try to script games where they come out like some WWE kind of (expletive),” Ice Cube said. “It has to play out. It’s sports. … For me, setting the stage, that’s about as much as I could do. From there, it was on Allen Iverson. It was up to him whether he performed or not, and I couldn’t do it for him. I felt like as a league, we did what we were supposed to do.
“How we handled it as a league, to me, got us a lot of respect as a league. We handled Allen Iverson just like we would have handled Maurice Evans. Miss a game, get suspended. We’ve been consistent. … And if Allen Iverson tries next year to be part of the BIG3, we hope he handles certain things differently.”
Ice Cube speaks with great pride when it comes to the BIG3. He knows that much of this league’s first-season success can be attributed to his own (and Iverson’s) star power, that deals with Fox and 10 major venues probably don’t come together without that kind of name recognition.
He also plans to do “whatever it takes” to ensure this league extends beyond his shadow and ends up “etched into the hearts and minds of sports fans.”
“There were so many people with so many doubts that I expected would get this, that would see this vision we had,” he said. “It was surprising that people really couldn’t see how big we wanted to make the BIG3.”
Regarding the post I made a while back about a 4 point line
It would essentially look like this with the arc touching the bottom of the 4 point areas we have now.
It would essentially look like this with the arc touching the bottom of the 4 point areas we have now.
David_TheMan
Banned
He is going to have to do something about the level of coaching
He needs to allow some type of buy-in for millionaires to buy teams and pay for talent.h
I believe he is going to get there thoug
Big3 Expands Rosters for Season 2
October 19 17
LOS ANGELES, CA - October 19, 2017 – The BIG3 announced today that team rosters will expand for the 2018 season with the addition of a second Co-Captain to each team. Player Captains are able to sign the Co-Captain beginning immediately.
The expansion will add eight high-profile roster positions for the league. Each team’s remaining three roster spots will be filled via the BIG3 draft, increasing the total roster spots on each team from five to six players.
3-on-3 pro basketball league founded by Ice Cube
October 19 17
LOS ANGELES, CA - October 19, 2017 – The BIG3 announced today that team rosters will expand for the 2018 season with the addition of a second Co-Captain to each team. Player Captains are able to sign the Co-Captain beginning immediately.
The expansion will add eight high-profile roster positions for the league. Each team’s remaining three roster spots will be filled via the BIG3 draft, increasing the total roster spots on each team from five to six players.
3-on-3 pro basketball league founded by Ice Cube
We going live nikkas!!!
3-on-3 pro basketball league founded by Ice Cube
New York – Following a competitive and engaging inaugural season of the BIG3, FOX Sports today announces fundamental changes to its presentation of the professional 3-on-3 basketball league. In 2018, the BIG3’s ten-week season will be broadcast live on Friday nights, with six windows on FS1 and four windows on the FOX broadcast network.b
“Following the success of FOX Sports’ live broadcast of last season’s BIG3 championship game, we knew we wanted to expand that live access for basketball fans throughout the season,” said FOX Sports President, Production and Executive Producer John Entz. “We’re thrilled to continue to grow our partnership with the BIG3, and we look forward to another season of exciting basketball with some of the most recognized athletes in the game.”
Each week, the BIG3 will play four games back-to-back on Friday evenings, three of which will be broadcast live by FOX Sports and streamed concurrently on FOX Sports GO.
The league tips off on Friday, June 22 on FS1 from 7:30 to 10:30 PM ET. The BIG3 will then travel to nine additional cities throughout the summer, concluding with playoff rounds and the championship matchup airing in the season’s final two weeks on FOX.
FOX Sports’ BIG3 broadcast schedule is as follows:
Date
Network & Platform
Time (ET)
Fri., June 22
FS1 & FSGO
7:30 – 10:30 PM
Fri., June 29
FOX & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., July 6
FOX & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., July 13
FS1 & FSGO
7:00 – 10:00 PM
Fri., July 20
FS1 & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., July 27
FS1 & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., Aug. 3
FS1 & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., Aug. 10
FS1 & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., Aug. 17 (Playoff Rounds)
FOX & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., Aug. 24 (Championship Match)
FOX & FSGO
8:00-10:00
3-on-3 pro basketball league founded by Ice Cube
New York – Following a competitive and engaging inaugural season of the BIG3, FOX Sports today announces fundamental changes to its presentation of the professional 3-on-3 basketball league. In 2018, the BIG3’s ten-week season will be broadcast live on Friday nights, with six windows on FS1 and four windows on the FOX broadcast network.b
“Following the success of FOX Sports’ live broadcast of last season’s BIG3 championship game, we knew we wanted to expand that live access for basketball fans throughout the season,” said FOX Sports President, Production and Executive Producer John Entz. “We’re thrilled to continue to grow our partnership with the BIG3, and we look forward to another season of exciting basketball with some of the most recognized athletes in the game.”
Each week, the BIG3 will play four games back-to-back on Friday evenings, three of which will be broadcast live by FOX Sports and streamed concurrently on FOX Sports GO.
The league tips off on Friday, June 22 on FS1 from 7:30 to 10:30 PM ET. The BIG3 will then travel to nine additional cities throughout the summer, concluding with playoff rounds and the championship matchup airing in the season’s final two weeks on FOX.
FOX Sports’ BIG3 broadcast schedule is as follows:
Date
Network & Platform
Time (ET)
Fri., June 22
FS1 & FSGO
7:30 – 10:30 PM
Fri., June 29
FOX & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., July 6
FOX & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., July 13
FS1 & FSGO
7:00 – 10:00 PM
Fri., July 20
FS1 & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., July 27
FS1 & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., Aug. 3
FS1 & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., Aug. 10
FS1 & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., Aug. 17 (Playoff Rounds)
FOX & FSGO
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Fri., Aug. 24 (Championship Match)
FOX & FSGO
8:00-10:00
And Brian Scalabrine, that cac fukking sucks. Can't do a thing out there. He's there as a white face of the league