SAN DIEGO — The Big 3 basketball league launched in 2017 and in two short years they have become one of the premier basketball leagues in the country. The league will tip off its third season on June 22 in Detroit on CBS.
Ice Cube says the leagues early success has caused them to create new teams. The new teams include the Aliens, Bivouac, Enemies and Triplets. Ice Cube said, “Since day 1, BIG 3 has always been about hard-nosed, fierce competition. Now we’re ramping it up with more teams, younger players, and a shiny new TV deal with CBS Sports.”
Teams will be coached by some of the top legends in the game, including Julius ‘Dr. J’ Erving, Gary Payton, Nancy Lieberman, Rick Barry, Lisa Leslie, and George ‘The Iceman’ Gervin. During the offseason, BIG3 added new top tier players to the league including Gilbert Arenas, Lamar Odom, Jason Terry, Joe Johnson, Larry Sanders, Josh Smith, Franklin Session, C.J. Watson, Jason Richardson, Shannon Brown, Al Jefferson, Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush, Carlos Arroyo, Dusan Bulut and more.
Star players returning this year include Amar’e Stoudemire, Drew Gooden, Nate Robinson, Corey Maggette, Stephen Jackson, Carlos Boozer, Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis, Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen, Rashard Lewis, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Cuttino Mobley, Jermaine O’Neal and Brian Scalabrine.
This year, BIG 3 will visit 18 cities – up from 10 each of the two previous years. Three games will be played at each location, two days per weekend (for a total of six games).
BIG3 2019 SCHEDULE:
June 22 — Detroit (Little Caesars Arena)
June 23 — Indianapolis (Bankers Life Fieldhouse)
June 29 — Charlotte (Spectrum Center)
June 30 — Philadelphia (Liacouras Center)
July 6 — Birmingham (Legacy Arena at the BJCC)
July 7 — Atlanta (State Farm Arena)
July 13 — Providence (Dunkin Donuts Center)
July 14 — New York (Barclays Center)
July 20 — Kansas City (Sprint Center)
July 21 — Oklahoma City (Chesapeake Energy Arena)
July 27— Salt Lake City (Vivint Smart Home Arena)
August 3 — Chicago (Allstate Arena)
August 4— Milwaukee (Fiserv Forum)
August 10— Miami (American Airlines Arena)
August 17 — Dallas (American Airlines Center)
August 18 — San Antonio (AT&T Center)
August 25 — New Orleans (Smoothie King Center) PLAYOFFS
September 1 — Los Angeles (STAPLES Center) *Championship