Arash Markazi: Glen “Big Baby” Davis has joined the BIG3 league and will be added to Power’s roster alongside Captain Corey Maggette and Co-Captain Cuttino Mobley. The trio will lead the team under Power coach Clyde Drexler.
More on Big3 Signings
TMZ Sports spoke with the ex-NBA All-Star about the newest addition to his Tri-State squad ... and J.O. reveals he personally recruited Robinson because he knows the 33-year-old still belongs in the pros. O'Neal says the NBA scouts should have their eyes on Nate throughout the season ... 'cause his team is gonna feed him the ball the whole time!!
Alex Kennedy: Nate Robinson has joined @TheBig3 for their 2nd season. The 3-on-3 league also added Baron Davis and Metta World Peace this offseason. They already announced they're bringing back a ton of players and coaches from last year too. This season, games will air LIVE on Friday nights.
Ian Begley: Ron Artest will join the BIG3 league next season and Allen Iverson will return as a coach in the league, per a release from the BIG3. Artest will co-captain Stephen Jackson’s Killer 3’s team. Iverson will again coach 3’s Company.
T.J. Ford will play in the 2018 season of the Big3 league six years after retiring from the NBA following a number of scares to his surgically repaired spine. Ford, 34, told ESPN analyst Stephen Jackson in a text that he agreed to a deal with the half-court league founded by Ice Cube that features former NBA players. The Big3's inaugural season wrapped in late August, with the Rick Mahorn-coached team Trilogy featuring Kenyon Martin, Al Harrington and Rashad McCants winning the championship, played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Metta World Peace just casually dropped some BIG basketball news ... telling TMZ Sports he's gonna suit up for Ice Cube's 3-on-3 league next season!! Metta -- who's already part of Master P's Global Mixed Gender League -- says he's gonna play for BOTH organizations ... on top of being a player developmental coach for the Lakers' G-League affiliate.
Oliver Maroney: The BIG3 (@thebig3) has announced its first wave of signings. See below:
"I do want to get on the court. I want to finish my career playing basketball in China, playing basketball in America and possibly playing in the BIG3. I want to give the fans and those who supported me the opportunity to see me for the last time playing on the basketball court."
Al knows what he's talking about ... dude's a 16-year NBA vet and reigning BIG3 champ -- and, most importantly, chats with Marbury all the time. Harrington was literally seconds away from hitting up Stephon when TMZ Sports found him in L.A. -- and asked if he seriously thought the 40-year-old could still ball with the best. "Vince Carter doin’ it, so why not?" BUT ... "I think he’d be better served in the BIG3." Al told us he's actually been recruiting Starbury for Ice Cube's league ... but it's up to his boy to choose -- or just DO BOTH!
With BIG3 honcho Ice Cube saying he's gunning for Kobe to join his basketball league next season, we asked Iverson how he felt about possibly coaching the Black Mamba on his 3's Company team. "That would be love," Iverson said ... "love, baby."
Ice Cube is one step closer to adding "Agent 0" to his BIG3 league -- with Gilbert Arenas telling TMZ Sports he's seriously considering joining up. 35-year-old Arenas was promoting his Life Water company at 7/11 in L.A. this week when he told us he's been in talks with Cube's 3-on-3 league about signing on for next season. In fact, Arenas says he's hoping the two sides can work out a sponsorship deal where his beverage company can be the official drink of the league.
Ice Cube says he's been in touch with Kobe Bryant about joining the BIG3 ... and he's gunning to get the Black Mamba back on the court as early as next year!! The rap legend and 3-on-3 league commish talked to KTLA Morning News Thursday about his talks with the retired Lakers superstar ... and Cube says he's hoping Kobe will get the competitive itch again.
In a wide-ranging interview with Rashad McCants, the BIG3 star of Trilogy told ClutchPoints that Arenas is very interested in giving the league a shot next year when asked if a proposed trio of former superstars Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett would work and if any other former stars will join the league next season. “Absolutely,” McCants told ClutchPoints.com. “I spoke to Gilbert Arenas, and he said he’s definitely interested in coming in next year and a couple of others.
Bibby, now 39, retired after that season. . He welcomed the invitation from Ice Cube to play in the Big3 league the rapper and partner Jeff Kwatinetz launched this summer. “I grew up on Ice Cube’s music,” Bibby said. “Watching his movies and stuff. In my eyes, he’s like a living legend. It was something I couldn’t say no to.” Bibby would like to say yes again if invited to play in future Big3 seasons. “I would love to play as long as they’ll have me,” he said.
With the BIG3 already boasting legends of the game such as Allen Iverson, Rick Barry, Spurs great George Gervin, and others, the league's Commissioner, Roger Mason, is already making a home for another hardwood legend - Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki. Mason is interested in adding Dirk once he hangs up his NBA sneakers. He also points to his time battling Nowitzki on the floor as a member of the Spurs as a starting point at recruiting the Mavs big man.
"We absolutely would be interested in Dirk Nowitzki," said Mason. "He obviously has been one of the greatest of all time in five on five, but even where he is today he’d be a great three on three player so if he decides to hang them up this year in the NBA we certainly have a home for him here. I enjoyed my time playing against Dirk when I was with the Spurs playing Dallas a couple years ago in the playoffs so we do have a relationship and I’m sure he’s seen our games," Mason said.
Speaking with Mason today, he expanded on his continuing efforts to lure Duncan to the league and is hoping he'll have a change of heart. "I did reach out to him early on and I didn't hear back," said Mason. "But I think ultimately, it's going to be a sit down. I am sure Tim has seen the games now and if he hasn't, I am still planning on coming down to San Antonio to grab some food with him and try to get him in our league."
When the fledgling 3-on-3 basketball league the BIG3 comes to Dallas on July 30, Mavericks fans will see a familiar face on the court at the American Airlines Center -- former Mav DeShawn Stevenson, who is taking advantage of the opportunity to keep hooping in his post-NBA career. But if the league's founder and rap legend Ice Cube has his way, another Maverick will be suiting up for the BIG3 in a couple of years. "We hope one day to have Dirk (Nowitzki) in our league if he still wants to hoop out when he finishes (with) the Mavericks," Ice Cube said in a recent phone interview.
