Do you have any interest in playing in Ice Cube’s BIG3 league at some point? Kobe Bryant: No. (Long pause) No interest? Kobe Bryant: No. Cube is a good friend of mine and he’s asked me repeatedly, but the answer is always going to be no.
Storyline: Big3 Signings
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Rick Barry, the NBA Hall-of-Famer who is coach of the BIG3’s Ball Hogs, put on mirrored sunglasses before announcing the first pick. “OK, brothers, here we go,’’ he said, drawing laughter in a room where he was one of the few white men. Can you imagine Bill Belichick adjusting his shades before announcing the New England Patriots pick in this year’s draft?
Here’s what you need to know about the 19 players taken: Round One: No. 1, Ball Hogs, Andre Owens. A shooting guard who once played for a pro team in Angola, was the secondoverall pick of the 2017 BIG3 draft and finished last season in the top five among league leaders in scoring, rebounding and assists. No. 2, 3’s Company, Andre Emmett. A forward who played four years for Bob Knight at Texas Tech and lived to tell about it, then played for almost two dozen pro teams — mostly overseas — before landing in the BIG3.
Greg Oden, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, was not selected in Thursday’s draft. There were only 19 selections in the draft. Josh Peter of USA Today explained there were more than 60 players on the board for the three-round draft, but the fact the reigning champions Trilogy had to keep their roster intact meant only seven teams had picks.
Ryan Ward: Metta World Peace on if he reached out to Kobe Bryant & Lamar Odom on joining #BIG3:”Not really. Maybe I should. I don’t think they’re going to play any more games,so I don’t know. It would be interesting to have Kobe on the same team in the BIG3.”#Lakers clutchpoints.com/exclusive-mett…
Ryan Ward: Clyde Drexler on Nancy Lieberman: “Nancy is one of the sharpest basketball minds & also one of the most competitive. Her experience & basketball acumen will stand out in the #BIG3, which is filled w/ star players & coaches. I couldn’t be happier to pass her the coaching torch.”
Ryan Ward: Nancy Lieberman: “It’s an honor & privilege for me to be a part of the BIG3 & its vision. We have former NBA players & Hall of Fame coaches who still love the game, have a deep respect for the competition, & a passion to play competitive basketball. It’s in our DNA.” #BIG3
Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman will coach a team this season in the BIG3. The league announced Wednesday that Lieberman, one of women’s basketball’s star players who has gone on to coach in the NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League, will lead Power. She replaces Clyde Drexler, who recently accepted a job as commissioner of the 3-on-3 league of former NBA players.
BIG3: SPLASH ALERT 💦Eddy Curry has joined the #BIG3Season 2 Draft Combine and the former ‘Baby Bull’ is ready to crash the boards and show his stuff.
Alex Kennedy: Is the Big 3 League something you’ve considered doing? Robert Swift: Yeah. I just, not too long ago, found out about that. What do they call it? The combine? In the summer before the Big 3 starts? Hopefully I can finish here [in Spain] with a championship and then head back this summer and make it to the combine.
Lamar Odom says his return to the court could happen this summer — telling TMZ Sports he wants to play in Ice Cube’s BIG3 league as a tribute to Rasual Butler. Lamar and the BIG3 have been circling each other for months. We were told Odom spoke with league honchos about a comeback last August … and Cube told us he was 100% down if L.O. got in shape.
Six-time NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire will join the Big3 League, according to a source. Stoudemire will serve as a captain of the Tri-State team, alongside Jermaine O’Neal and Nate Robinson, per a source. An official announcement is expected later on Wednesday.
BIG3: SPLASH ALERT 💦 The 30-year-old former number one pick out of Ohio State hopes to return to the court this Summer! Oden is ready to turn heads at the BIG3 Draft Combine.
Arash Markazi: Carlos Boozer has joined the BIG3 as Co-Captain of the Ghost Ballers alongside Captain Mike Bibby and Co-Captain Ricky Davis. The trio will lead the team alongside coach George “The Iceman” Gervin.
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.
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.
June 18, 2018 | 1:05 pm EDT Update
Jamal Crawford to become a free agent
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jamal Crawford has declined his $4.5 million player option for next season and will become a free agent, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Crawford, a three-time Sixth Man of the Year, will become one of the top reserve scorers on the open market after facing Monday’s deadline to decide on his option.
Milos Teodosic’s tenure with the Los Angeles Clippers may finish after just one season. The Los Angeles Clippers, in fact, are not planning to keep the Serbian point guard for the next season, a league source told Sportando. Teodosic has a player option, worth $6.3 mln, for the next season, that he can exercise until June 24, but his deal won’t become fully guaranteed until July 15. If the Clippers will decide to waive him before July 15, they’d only have to pay him $2.1 mln. The Clippers are moving towards in the direction of parting ways with Teodosic, a league source told Sportando.
If Clippers will, in fact, waive Teodosic, there’s a growing feeling around that the league that he may consider a return in Europe, if the right offer will present itself, a source told Sportando. But interest from other NBA teams can’t be ruled out at this points.
Marc Stein: The Grizzlies, meanwhile, continue to receive significant trade interest in the No. 4 pick in scenarios where they would also send out Chandler Parsons. The Grizz are said to be taking more calls than they’re making, but staying in the high lottery is obviously crucial to Memphis twitter.com/TheSteinLine/s…
Just about eight months after it was announced, International Smoke will open its doors in Houston next month. The restaurant from cookbook author and food personality Ayesha Curry and Chef Michael Mina is set to debut at 600 Sorella Court, occupying a 6,000-square-foot space. According to a press release, the restaurant will have two of its very own terraces on which diners can enjoy dishes like jerk-spiced duck wings, binchotan-grilled lobster, and Argentine ribeye, a dish that involves hay-smoked beef and chimichurri sauce.
June 18, 2018 | 12:32 pm EDT Update
“Last summer, they could have acquired Paul George. ” said Adrian Wojnarowski on the Adam Schefter podcast. “I think Paul George wanted to know, ‘if LeBron commits to some years going forward, then I might be willing to commit.’ “When LeBron wasn’t willing to commit to an extension, that told me, they could have had Paul George without losing Kyrie. That’s a very different team: Kyrie Irving, Paul George and LeBron James. “When he wasn’t ready to do that then, Cleveland was worried and rightly so.”
Josh Lewenberg: Raptors GM Bobby Webster (from his @TSN1050Radio interview this morning) on RFA Fred VanVleet: “He’s a huge priority. I don’t want to get fined here, we’re a little limited in what we can say, but we love Freddy and he knows that. He is our highest priority.”
