BIG3 Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Clyde Drexler Named BIG3 Commissioner

March 15th, 2018 at 9:01am CST by Luke Adams

Former Trail Blazers and Rockets star Clyde Drexler has been named the new commissioner of the BIG3 basketball league, according to a press release (via Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today). Drexler was involved with the league last season as the coach of BIG3 team Power.

“Clyde is a consummate professional, revered businessman and indisputably one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball,” BIG3 co-founders and co-CEOs Jeff Kwatinetz and Ice Cube said in a statement. “We were thrilled to have his early support as a coach for our inaugural season and couldn’t be more pleased to welcome him to the executive team as BIG3 Commissioner.”

Ice Cube had been serving as the BIG3’s interim commissioner following the dismissal of Roger Mason Jr., who was recently fired by the league. Reports indicated that an alleged corruption scandal was the reason for Mason’s ouster, though the former veteran guard issued a statement this week refuting that idea, and calling the BIG3 work environment “hostile and racist.” Drexler will be tasked with moving the league beyond that scandal as it prepares for its second season this summer.

The BIG3, a three-on-three league that played its inaugural season in 2017, is made up almost exclusively of former NBA players, and has added several intriguing names to its initial player pool over the last few months. Metta World Peace, Amar’e Stoudemire, Glen Davis, Nate Robinson, Carlos Boozer, Baron Davis, Eddy Curry, and Greg Oden are among the former NBA vets expected to play in the BIG3 in 2018.

Categories:
BIG3
Clyde Drexler

And-Ones: BIG3, Cook, Larrier, NBA 2K

March 12th, 2018 at 8:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The BIG3 has fired commissioner Roger Mason Jr. in the wake of an alleged corruption scandal and replaced him with rapper Ice Cube, according to Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports. Mason reportedly secured the investment for the 3-on-3 league from two Qatari businessmen, who were later investigated for refusing to pay millions of dollars to the league. Mason allegedly refused to cooperate with the investigation, according to a TMZ Sports report. In a statement posted by Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, Mason Jr. refuted the notion he was removed because of corruption, calling the BIG3 work environment “hostile and racist.”

In other basketball news around the country:

The BIG3’s second season will begin in Houston on June 22, according to a league press release. Games will also take place in Chicago, Oakland, Detroit, Miami, Toronto, Dallas and Boston during the regular season. Atlanta will host most of the playoff games with the championship scheduled for New York’s Barclays Center on August 24th.
Iowa’s Tyler Cook will enter the draft, but won’t hire an agent, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. The 6’9” Cook averaged 15.3 PPG and 6.8 RPG for the Hawkeyes as a sophomore this season.
Connecticut swingman Terry Larrier has opted to enter the draft, he announced in a press release. The 6’8” Larrier averaged 13.9 PPG and 4.8 RPG for the Huskies in his junior season. Connecticut parted ways with head coach Kevin Ollie over the weekend.
The NBA 2K league will hold its inaugural draft lottery on Tuesday, according to a league press release. The E-Sports league will host its first draft, a six-round event, on April 4th.

Eddy Curry Joins BIG3 Draft Pool

March 7th, 2018 at 8:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Eddy Curry is the latest former NBA star to join the BIG3 draft combine, the league announced today (Twitter link).

Curry, 35, played 12 seasons in the NBA, mainly for the Bulls and Knicks. The seven-footer’s last appearance in the league came early in the 2012/13 season when he played two games for the Mavericks. He owns a championship ring as a member of the Heat team that won the title in 2011/2012.

The fourth player taken in the 2001 draft, Curry had a brief stint in China after his NBA career ended but hasn’t played competitively since 2013.

The combine will be held this spring, giving the eight teams in the BIG3 a chance to evaluate the available talent ahead of the draft. Curry will have to be selected by one of the teams before he can join the three-on-three league.

The BIG3 began play last June with a variety of former NBA stars involved. It has received another infusion of talent for its second season, with ex-players such as Amar’e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Glen Davis, Baron Davis, Metta World Peace, Drew Gooden, Greg Oden and others declaring their intentions to join the league.

Categories:
BIG3
Eddy Curry

Amar’e Stoudemire To Play In BIG3

February 14th, 2018 at 10:40am CST by Luke Adams

Ice Cube’s three-on-three league has added another notable NBA veteran to its ranks, announcing today that former Suns and Knicks big man Amar’e Stoudemire will join the BIG3 for the 2018 season. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Ian Begley.

Stoudemire will become a co-captain for the BIG3’s Tri-State squad, teaming with fellow former NBAers Jermaine O’Neal and Nate Robinson. While O’Neal participated in the BIG3’s inaugural season in 2017, Stoudemire and Robinson are new additions to the league, joining offseason signees like Carlos Boozer, Glen Davis, Baron Davis, Ron Artest, and many more.

[RELATED: Greg Oden joins BIG3 draft pool]

Stoudemire, the ninth overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, was a six-time All-Star over the course of 14 NBA seasons. In 846 career regular season games, he averaged an impressive 18.9 PPG and 7.8 RPG with a .537 FG%. He nearly replicated those averages (18.7 PPG, 7.4 RPG) in 78 postseason contests.

Although he’s still only 35 years old, Stoudemire hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2015/16 season. The big man spent the 2016/17 campaign playing in Israel before formally announcing his retirement as a player this past September.

Greg Oden Joins BIG3 Draft Pool

February 12th, 2018 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Former first overall pick Greg Oden is hoping to return to the court this summer — not in the NBA, but in Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 league. The BIG3 announced today that Oden has joined the league’s draft pool for the coming season (Twitter link).

Oden, who turned 30 last month, was selected by Portland with the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, one spot ahead of Kevin Durant. However, the Ohio State standout only appeared in 105 total NBA games, averaging 8.0 PPG and 6.2 RPG, last playing in the league for the Heat in 2013/14. His career was derailed by multiple knee and leg injuries.

After making an effort to revive his playing career in China during the 2015/16, the former Trail Blazers center said multiple times in the fall of 2016 that his playing career was over. “Don’t get me wrong,” Oden said at the time. “If I was healthy, I would love to continue playing, but I’m not healthy.”

A year and a half later, it appears Oden may not be ready to throw in the towel after all, as he makes an effort to participate in a three-on-three league that features former NBA players like Chauncey Billups, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, Rashard Lewis, Kenyon Martin, and many more. For now, Oden isn’t on a BIG3 roster, but if he’s healthy this spring, he’ll be an intriguing candidate to be plucked out of the draft pool by one of the league’s clubs.

Categories:
BIG3
Greg Oden

Carlos Boozer To Play In BIG3

January 25th, 2018 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Another noteworthy former NBA big man is making the transition to the BIG3 this summer, with the league announcing today (via Twitter) that Carlos Boozer will be a co-captain for the Ghost Ballers. That club is currently led by ex-NBA guards Mike Bibby and Ricky Davis.

The news comes just over a month after Boozer officially announced his retirement as an NBA player. Although the 36-year-old hadn’t played an NBA games since suiting up for the Lakers during the 2014/15 season, he had not formally signaled that he was ruling out a comeback until he did so in an ESPN appearance in December.

A two-time All-Star, Boozer played 13 total NBA seasons, averaging 16.2 PPG and 9.5 RPG in 861 total regular season contests for the Cavaliers, Jazz, Bulls, and Lakers. He also appeared in 83 total postseason games for Utah and Chicago. Boozer finished his playing career last season in China with the Guangdong Southern Tigers.

Boozer is the latest in a series of notable offseason player additions this winter by the BIG3, Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 league that played its first season in 2017. In addition to Boozer, former NBAers like Glen Davis, Nate Robinson, Baron Davis, and Jason Maxiell have signed on to play for various BIG3 clubs starting this June.

Categories:
BIG3
Carlos Boozer

Glen Davis To Play In BIG3

January 23rd, 2018 at 2:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Glen Davis is the latest NBA veteran to make the move to the BIG3, with Ice Cube’s summer 3-on-3 league announcing today (via Twitter) that “Big Baby” will suit up for Power and will be the club’s co-captain for the 2018 season. Cuttino Mobley is Power’s current captain, per the BIG3’s official site.

Davis, who is still just 32 years old, signed a G League contract in the fall, but wasn’t immediately claimed off waivers or signed from the player pool by any G League clubs. According to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link), there were NBA teams with interest in having Davis on their G League affiliates, but the former LSU standout is now focused on the BIG3 instead.

Davis, who last played in the NBA during the 2014/15 season for the Clippers, logged more than 500 career regular season games – plus 96 postseason contests – for the Celtics, Magic, and Clips. He averaged 8.0 PPG and 4.4 RPG over the course of his NBA career.

With the second BIG3 season set to get underway in June, the league has added several notable former NBA players this offseason, with Davis joining a group of newcomers that includes Nate Robinson, Baron Davis, and Jason Maxiell.

Categories:
BIG3
Glen Davis

And-Ones: Trade Candidates, N. Robinson, Simons

January 16th, 2018 at 3:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic has been the subject of more trade rumors than virtually any other NBA player over the last several weeks, but he’s not the only “sell-high” trade candidate around the league, writes Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com. In an Insider-only piece, Pelton identifies several players whose trade value may not get higher than it is right now, including Grizzlies guard Tyreke Evans, Suns center Alex Len, and Nets teammates Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris.

Those players may not be on the move before next month’s trade deadline – Pelton admits that the idea of dealing Dinwiddie would be a “particularly tough sell” for the Nets – but it would make sense for those clubs to at least explore the possibilities.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Former NBA guard Nate Robinson has officially signed a BIG3 contract and joined Tri-State – Jermaine O’Neal‘s team – as a co-captain, the league announced today (Twitter link). We heard as recently as last month that Robinson hadn’t given up on the idea of getting back to the NBA.
While top prospect Anfernee Simons may commit to a college for the 2018/19 season at some point, he’s also considering making the leap directly to the NBA this year, as Jared Weiss of USA Today details. Simons reportedly intends to test the 2018 draft waters in the same way that Kentucky’s Hamidou Diallo did a year ago.
Kristaps Porzingis is one of the few active NBA players capable of potentially matching the 48-point, 17-rebound stat line that Anthony Davis posted in Madison Square Garden on Sunday. While Porzingis isn’t at Davis’ level, Ian Begley of ESPN points to the development of the Pelicans star as evidence that the Knicks should be patient with Porzingis’ own development.
Former Mavericks guard Gian Clavell, who was on a two-way contract with Dallas earlier this season, has signed with Turkish team Sakarya Buyuksehir for the rest of the 2017/18 campaign, per international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). Clavell appeared in seven games for the Mavs.

And-Ones: BIG3, G League, Quarterman, J. Brown

January 12th, 2018 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Two more former NBA players have signed on with the BIG3, including one that just formally announced his retirement from the NBA this past summer. Veteran big man Jason Maxiell was one of those players joining the BIG3 player pool this week, according to the league (Twitter link). After playing more than 600 NBA regular season games and another 35 postseason contests, Maxiell signed a one-day contract in August and retired as a Piston. Now, he’ll have a chance to compete against – or team up with – former teammate Chauncey Billups in the BIG3.

Veteran forward Jamario Moon, who played in 286 total games for the Raptors, Heat, Cavaliers, Clippers, and Hornets from 2007 to 2012, also signed a BIG3 contract this week, according to an announcement from the league (Twitter link).

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Multiple 2018 NBA draft prospects who aren’t currently playing NCAA ball have been informed that they’re ineligible to play in the G League this season, a league source tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. As Givony explains, players who were enrolled in college during an academic calendar year are ineligible to sign a G League contract in the same season unless they’ve been ruled permanently NCAA-ineligible. Mitchell Robinson, De’Anthony Melton, and Brian Bowen are among the potential 2018 first-rounders currently in limbo.
Former Trail Blazers guard Tim Quarterman had been set to join the Jiangsu Dragons in China, but passport complications prevented him from finalizing his deal, per international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). According to Pick, the Chinese club signed ex-Lakers guard Jabari Brown instead.
Former first-round pick Archie Goodwin is back in the Suns‘ system, having been traded to Phoenix’s G League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns, earlier this week. Northern Arizona sent out a first-round pick and a second-round pick for the 2018 G League draft in the three-team deal.
The NBA’s next wave of international stars appears to have arrived, Michael Lee writes in an interesting feature for Yahoo Sports.

And-Ones: Referees, Baron Davis, Ball Brothers

December 21st, 2017 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Having become dissatisfied working with the NBA to moderate issues between referees and players, Lee Seham, the general counsel for the National Basketball Referees Association recently met with NBPA executive director Michele Roberts to discuss those issues, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. After meeting at the players’ union’s Manhattan offices, Seham and Roberts plan to hold another informal sitdown at All-Star weekend in Los Angeles, which will include a few top referees and players.

As Wojnarowski details, both the referees’ union and players’ union have expressed concerns about how treatment from the other side — the NBRA believes that the league office has become too lenient in allowing players to verbally go after referees, while players are put off by what they view as dismissive or disrespectful reactions from refs when they ask about a call.

The NBA would ultimately need to sign off on any official changes to the way its referees are trained, or the way that disputes between players and refs are handled. However, if the referees’ and players’ unions can reach common ground on some of those issues, they’d have added leverage to take those suggestions to the league.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball league has added another former NBA All-Star to its ranks, announcing this week in a press release that Baron Davis has signed with the BIG3 and will play for 3’s Company next season. “Hearing about the fun they had this past summer really made me excited to suit up,” Davis said. “I have a lot of basketball left, and this is a great opportunity to fill that void I’ve been missing.”
In a fascinating piece for The Washington Post, Candance Buckner shines a light on some of the NBA’s behind-the-scenes power brokers, including a video game marketing director, a fashion designer, and a skills trainer.
How did LiAngelo Ball and LaMelo Ball end up landing with a little-known team in Lithuania? Andrew Keh of The New York Times takes a deep dive into the city of Prienai and its basketball club (Prienu Vytautas), which has already added five more people to its modest staff to help handle the increased marketing workload.