Ice Cube‘s popular three-on-three basketball league, BIG3, is setting down roots. Since its founding in 2017, the 12-team league featuring former NBA and international players has barnstormed around the country setting up shop in cities and playing a series of games, with last year’s contests rolling into Chicago, Dallas, Brooklyn, Memphis, Miami, Boston, Charlotte and Detroit.
In May, BIG3 CEO Cube announced the plans to pivot to a more traditional city-based model, writing on Instagram, “We need to plant our roots in cities so we can be more than a rolling all-star game coming through. It’s really about growing the sport and the league.” The league sold its first franchise in Los Angeles in May for $10 million to a group of investors led by DCB Sports.
In June the league welcomed a Miami franchise (also to the tune of $10 million) and on Thursday (July 4), the BIG3 announced that businessmen Eric Mullins and Milton Carroll had purchase the rights to a team in Houston. Those three teams will join a group of colorfully named squads including the Ghost Ballers, 3 Headed Monsters, 3’s Company, Aliens, Ball Hogs, Bivouac, Enemies, Killer 3s, Power, Tri-State, Trilogy and Triplets.
The BIG3’s 2024 season marches on this weekend, with six games scheduled for Sunday (July 7) in Newark, N.J. at the Prudential Center, followed by weekend contests in Anaheim (July 14), Portland (July 20), Cincinnati (July 28), San Antonio (August 4), Nashville (August 11) and Boston (August 18). In March, Cube offered college superstar Caitlin Clark $5 million to join the BIG3, though she opted to sign a four-year contract with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever that was reportedly worth $338,000.
