Ice Cube, Roger Mason team up to create BIG3, a new professional basketball league
Last week, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo’s The Vertical reported that Roger Mason, a former 10-year professional and executive director of the NBA Players Association, has teamed up with Ice Cube to create BIG3, a new summertime professional basketball league.
Mason, who likely deserves a ton of credit for helping the players and owners to agree on a CBA without another lockout, will leave to be the commissioner of the new league, which will focus on providing a venue and atmosphere for those too old to continue in the NBA but still have too much to give the game to quit entirely.
Ideally, they say, the league will start this upcoming summer and will feature three-on-three, half court games as they tour across the country for fans, not dissimilar to how the Harlem Globetrotters often spend their time.
As Ice Cube put it, he’s just looking to help the older players find a vehicle for their skills in an empty post-retirement world:
“I thought of this concept as a fan who got sick of seeing his heroes retire and not play anymore,” Ice Cube told The Vertical. “A lot of these guys can still play once they retire – just not the back-to-backs or four games in five nights.”
According to Wojnarowski, the list of confirmed players is incredibly exciting:
“So far, retired NBA players Kenyon Martin, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, Rashard Lewis and Jason Williams are some of the players committed to play on teams, league officials said.”
The list got us thinking — what would your ideal squad of recently retired players be?
Personally, you can’t go wrong with Jason Williams leading the charge as some of his passes were otherworldly — case in point here. Then, next, you’ll need a shooter, so let’s snag Ray Allen. Then, of course, you’ll need a rebounder and somebody to catch alley-oops from Williams, so let’s team him up with Kenyon Martin.
CoachUp’s Dream Squad: Jason Williams, Ray Allen, Kenyon Martin
What would your best team of three be?
