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Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers Take Home Big3 Championship

August 24th, 2025 at 8:02pm CST by Eli Cohen

Eleven years after helping the LeBron James-led Heat reach the Finals, Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley once again found themselves as Miami teammates vying for a championship, this time in Ice Cube’s Big3 league. Unlike in 2014 against the Spurs, when the Heat lost in five games, the pair came out victorious in the 3×3 title game on Sunday, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Beasley put up 25 points and 12 rebounds, but his biggest play of the night came off an isolation possession in which he found Chalmers waiting in the corner to hit a game-winning three-pointer to clinch the championship. Chalmers, the team’s captain, had just five points, but three of them were the biggest of the night.

Former Pacers wing Lance Stephenson was the second-leading scorer for the Miami 305 with 14 points. Beasley, Chalmers, and Stephenson were joined by former NBA players Reggie Evans and Sean Williams. They beat the Chicago Triplets, whose roster includes former NBA big men Montrezl Harrell and Amir Johnson.

Winderman notes that the title marked the fifth different league in which Chalmers has taken home a championship. The 39-year-old point guard also won two titles with the Heat, two championships in high school, an NCAA championship with Kansas in 2008, and a Champions League title with Virtus Bologna in 2019.

Beasley and Chalmers had previously made the 2024 Big3 Finals but ultimately lost to the team Bivouac, which featured Gerald Green and Corey Brewer.

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And-Ones: Koufos, Mental Health, Analytics Awards, Match Fixing

April 20th, 2023 at 4:32pm CST by Rory Maher

The London Lions have parted ways with veteran center Kosta Koufos, the team announced in a press release (hat tip to Eurohoops.net).

“We would like to thank Kosta for his contributions to the Club, both on and off the court,” Lions GM Brett Burman said. “Aside from being a dominant interior presence, Kosta was a mentor and locker room connector. He came in and represented the Club and the BBL, and the City of London to the highest standard. He left a huge impression on the basketball footprint here, and we thank him for his impact… We wish him and his family all the best.”

The 23rd overall pick of the 2008 draft, Koufos played 11 NBA seasons with Utah, Minnesota, Denver, Memphis and Sacramento. His last season in the league was 2018/19 with the Kings.

The 34-year-old had a solid showing with the Lions, leading the British Basketball League in rebounds per game (9.1) during the regular season while chipping in 12.1 points and 1.1 blocks (sixth-best in the BBL). Koufos has also played for CSKA Moscow, Olympiacos and G League Ignite in recent years after his NBA departure.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Joe Vardon of The Athletic examines why the NBA got serious about mental health, noting that DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love were at the forefront of discussing their mental health struggles in 2018. According to Vardon, since 2019/20 the league has required teams to have a “formal relationship” with an in-market therapist or psychologist, a psychiatrist for medication, action plans for emergencies, and a “playbook” featuring health and wellness exercises. “People think (NBA players) can just pump fame, or pump money, or pump Twitter followers into their lives and it’s going to just fix everything,” Love told Vardon. “But unfortunately, brains and souls just don’t work like that. If you have a chemical imbalance, that’s not going to help it.”
  • Seth Partnow of The Athletic polled 17 members of the advanced analytics community — some who work for teams and some who don’t — to see who they would choose for the NBA’s annual regular season awards. Those polled tended to favor peak performance rather than durability, with stars like Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James and Anthony Davis making the informal All-NBA teams despite only playing between 47 and 58 regular season games.
  • The Chinese Basketball Association disqualified the Shanghai Sharks and Jiangsu Dragons from the postseason amid match-fixing allegations, according to ESPN.com. The Dragons were up four points with 1:36 remaining in the finale of their three-game series, but subsequently committed five straight questionable turnovers to help the Sharks build a 10-point lead, with Shanghai ultimately winning 108-104. The teams were fined $5MM apiece and their GMs and head coaches will be suspended for up to five years. The Sharks also allegedly lost Game 2 on purpose so former All-Defensive guard Eric Bledsoe could return for Game 3 — he had been suspended prior to the playoffs. Both Bledsoe and Michael Beasley — another former NBA player who was injured for most of the season and didn’t play in the games — denied being part of the match-fixing. Beasley said he mutually and amicably agreed to leave the team in part because it “failed to provide me with the necessary assistance and accommodations to properly address my injury,” per ESPN.
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And-Ones: Media Rights, G League, Bledsoe, Beasley, Franklin

November 2nd, 2022 at 8:05am CST by Luke Adams

When the NBA negotiates its next television deal, expect the league to sell a separate package of streaming-only games, writes Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. As McCarthy outlines, the NFL and MLB have sold packages of games to Amazon and Apple in recent years, and the NBA is expected to follow suit, with Amazon in particular having made it clear it wants to get into business with the league.

“Amazon is locked and loaded for a shot at the NBA,” a source told Front Office Sports.

According to McCarthy, sports media consultant Patrick Crakes estimated that the bidding for a streaming-only NBA package could start in the neighborhood of $1 billion per year. The league’s current TV deal with ESPN/ABC and Turner Sports pays the league about $2.6 billion annually — the next rights deal is expected to double or triple that figure, McCarthy writes.

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

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Michael Beasley To Play In China

June 5th, 2022 at 9:07am CST by Arthur Hill

Michael Beasley will resume his career in the Chinese Basketball Association, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Beasley will sign a “seven-figure” deal with the Shanghai Sharks, Charania adds.

Beasley played for seven NBA teams and had numerous overseas stops after being selected by Miami with the No. 2 pick in the 2008 draft. The 33-year-old’s most recent contract was in Puerto Rico, and he committed last month to play in the BIG3 this summer.

This will be his second stint with the Sharks after playing for them in 2014/15. He also spent time in the CBA with Shandong in 2015/16 and Guangdong in 2019.

Beasley has been out of the NBA since playing 26 games for the Lakers during the 2018/19 season. He signed with the Nets for the Orlando “bubble” in 2020, but that contract was voided after he tested positive for COVID-19.

Beasley played in 609 NBA games over 11 years with career averages of 12.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per night. The former Kansas State standout played in Summer League last year with the Trail Blazers.

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And-Ones: Beasley, Delaney, Bolmaro, Duarte, EuroLeague, Ticket Prices

May 12th, 2022 at 10:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Michael Beasley has officially committed to play in the BIG3 league with 3’s Company this summer, Hoops Rumors’ JD Shaw tweets. ESPN’s Marc J. Spears recently reported Beasley was expected to play in the league. The former No. 2 pick, who last played in the NBA with the Lakers during the 2018/19 season, has hired agent Andre Buck and will continue pursuing an NBA comeback. 

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Former NBA player Malcolm Delaney will miss the remainder of Olimpio Milano’s season due to an abdominal injury, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets. Delaney won’t return to Milan next season. “Two special years, in which I played in two of the best teams I’ve ever been a part of, but with a lot of bad luck,” Delaney said. “I enjoyed my experience in Milan, on and off the court.”
  • Timberwolves rookie Leandro Bolmaro and Pacers rookie Chris Duarte will be among the coaches at the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Americas camp next week, according to an NBA press release. The camp will be held from Monday to Thursday in San Luis Potosí, Mexico and will bring together the top high-school age boys and girls from Latin America, Canada and the Caribbean.
  • This year’s EuroLeague First Team selections have a distinct NBA flavor. NBA veterans Mike James, Shane Larkin and Nikola Mirotic were all selected to the First Team along with Walter Tavares and Sasha Vezenkov, Eurohoops.net tweets.
  • Ticket prices around the NBA continue to rise as attendance drops, Josh Kosman and Brian Lewis of the New York Post report. According to the Post, fans are now paying an average of $109 per ticket, an 18.6% increase since 2018/19. However, the number of paid fans at arenas has dropped 7.1% to 13,603 per game. Those numbers could impact the league’s negotiations with its broadcast partners.
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And-Ones: Beasley, Parsons, Turell, Bowen

March 15th, 2022 at 9:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Power forward Michael Beasley, an 11-year veteran who is still just 33, remains hopeful that he can continue his professional basketball journey, as he revealed during an intense interview with ex-NFL players Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor on The Pivot Podcast (video link).

Beasley last inked a deal with the Brooklyn Nets for the 2019/20 NBA season’s Orlando “bubble” season, only to see his contract voided after he tested positive for COVID-19. “I’m gonna retire how I want to retire,” said Beasley. “I can’t live my life on your terms. I can’t just let my dream die.”

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

  • In a conversation with fellow former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on their podcast All The Smoke, former NBA forward Chandler Parsons discussed the 2020 car accident that was a factor in his eventual retirement. “It was nuts,” said Parsons, who was a deep-bench reserve with the Hawks at the time. “I was leaving practice one day in Atlanta, two o’clock on a Wednesday. And I’m driving and I just see this car coming at me and just completely T-Bones me. And I had never been to a crash before… The windows were bashed in, airbag’s out, I had a cut on my wrist, I was bleeding… and I couldn’t move my neck!”
  • Division III wing Ryan Turell, the leading NCAA scorer in the nation out of Yeshiva University with an average of 27.1 PPG, will leave school ahead of his senior year to test the waters for the 2022 draft, writes Jonathan Givony of ESPN. “I know NBA teams came to see me [during his season],” the 6’7″ prospect said. “My coach would tell me after each game, especially toward the end of the season. Quite a few NBA teams came to watch.”
  • Ex-Pacers small forward Brian Bowen II recently had a surgical procedure for his ruptured Achilles tendon, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link). He has appeared in 12 games across two seasons with Indiana. This year, the 6’6″ Bowen did not make an NBA roster, but he did suit up for the Iowa Wolves, the G League club for the Timberwolves, and the USA Basketball World Cup Qualifying Team. In 21 contests with Iowa this year, he holds averages of 14.6 PPG, 8.0 RPG, and 1.1 APG.
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And-Ones: Beasley, Rising Stars, Graham, Iwundu, Draft

January 25th, 2022 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran forward Michael Beasley, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 draft, is training in Miami in the hopes of making an NBA comeback, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who says Beasley and his representatives have been in touch with multiple teams.

In a candid conversation with Scotto, Beasley spoke about his NBA career to date, revisiting some of the good stretches, including his season with the Knicks in 2017/18, and the bad, like his time with the Lakers in 2018/19.

“My mom died when I was playing for the Lakers,” Beasley said. “I fought through that, and I came back. My cousin died the game I forgot my shorts in Oklahoma. I was battling that day, trying to fight through it. I wanted to go to the funeral, but I was already gone when my mom died. I just wanted to be there for the team, and the whole world just laughed at me. … It hurt my feelings. I’m not going to lie.”

Beasley is now 33 years old and has been out of the league since 2019, but he tells Scotto he’s “better than I’ve ever been” and has spent the last three years “perfecting my craft on every level on both sides of the ball.”

Agent Charles Briscoe tells Scotto (Twitter link) that the NBA sent a memo to teams informing them Beasley will be eligible to return to play on February 14. It’s unclear whether the forward’s current ineligibility is related to his 2019 suspension (which he never got a chance to serve), delayed FIBA paperwork following a brief stint in Puerto Rico, or something else. In any case, it sounds like he’ll be an option for NBA teams in a few weeks.

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

  • The NBA has announced a new format for its Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend, which will take place on Friday, February 18. The event will feature four seven-player teams competing in a three-game tournament (two semifinals and a final). The player pool will be comprised of 12 NBA rookies, 12 sophomores, and four players from the G League Ignite, while the games will be played to a target score: 50 points in the semifinals and 25 points in the final, in honor of the league’s 75th anniversary season.
  • The four Ignite players in the Rising Stars event will likely be Jaden Hardy, Michael Foster, Dyson Daniels, and MarJon Beauchamp, tweets Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Those four players will be draft-eligible in 2022, unlike 17-year-old Scoot Henderson.
  • After signing NBA G League contracts, veteran wings Treveon Graham and Wes Iwundu have new teams, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link), who hears from league sources that Graham has been acquired by the Long Island Nets (Brooklyn’s affiliate), while Iwundu has joined the Cleveland Charge (the Cavaliers‘ affiliate).
  • Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report provides a stock report on some of the top prospects of the 2022 NBA draft class, identifying Duke forward AJ Griffin, G League Ignite forward MarJon Beauchamp, and LSU Tari Eason as some players who are climbing up draft boards.
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And-Ones: Hall Of Fame, House, Clark, Beasley, 2022 Draft

December 23rd, 2021 at 3:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has announced its list of 50 nominees for 2022, including four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili, who is eligible for the first time this year.

Chauncey Billups, Shawn Marion, Michael Finley, and Mark Jackson are among the other nominees eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as players, while George Karl and Paul Westhead are two of many coaching nominees. Veteran referee Joey Crawford is also eligible for the first time this year.

The Hall of Fame will announce its 2022 finalists in February and will reveal this year’s class on April 2. The enshrinement ceremony will take place on the weekend of September 9-10.

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

  • Before Danuel House signed a 10-day deal with the Knicks, he received interest from a number of other teams, including the Sixers, Lakers, and Kings, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
  • Veteran forward Earl Clark, the 14th overall pick in the 2009 draft, has signed an NBA G League contract, agent Daniel Hazan tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Clark appeared in 261 career NBA games, but hasn’t played in the league since 2015.
  • Former No. 2 overall pick Michael Beasley has been sent a G League contract and invited to join the NBAGL player pool, tweets Marc Stein. Beasley joined a Puerto Rican team in October after playing for Portland in Summer League this year.
  • Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report takes a look at some early-season surprises and disappointments among 2022 NBA draft prospects, while ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz (Insider link) published an updated version of their 2022 mock draft this week. Purdue guard Jaden Ivey has moved up to No. 4 in ESPN’s latest mock, while Jaden Hardy of the G League Ignite has slipped out of the top five.
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Michael Beasley Joins Puerto Rican Team

October 5th, 2021 at 6:12pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Longtime NBA power forward Michael Beasley has inked a new deal with Puerto Rican club Cangrejeros de Santurce, per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.

Carchia notes that Beasley will join the club just in time for the BSN playoffs next weekend.

The second overall selection out of Kansas State in the 2008 draft ahead of future All-Stars Russell Westbrook (the No. 4 pick) and Kevin Love (the No. 5 pick), the well-traveled Beasley suited up for 11 NBA seasons with the Heat, Timberwolves, Suns, Rockets, Bucks, Knicks and Lakers. Los Angeles was Beasley’s most recent regular season NBA destination, during the 2018/19 season.

Beasley had reportedly been under consideration for a training camp invitation from the Trail Blazers, after playing for the club’s 2021 Summer League team.

The 32-year-old is known as a solid jump shooting stretch four who never developed as a defender. Across 609 NBA games, he holds averages of 12.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 1.3 APG, plus a .465/.347/.759 shooting line.

Beasley will suit up alongside fellow former NBA player J.J. Barea, notes Marc Stein of Substack (via Twitter).

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Scotto’s Latest: Blazers, Beasley, Patterson, Ennis, More

September 8th, 2021 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have 13 players with guaranteed contracts on their roster and have added Dennis Smith Jr. and Marquese Chriss on non-guaranteed deals to vie for one of the team’s open roster spots. However, that competition may end up including more veterans than just Smith and Chriss.

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Trail Blazers are eyeing other free agent forwards as possible training camp invitees. Michael Beasley, who played for Portland’ Summer League team, is one possibility. The club is also eyeing veteran stretch four Patrick Patterson, says Scotto.

The Blazers still only have 16 players under contract, which means there are four more spots available on their 20-man offseason roster.

As we wait to see how Portland fills those openings, here are a few more items of interest from Scotto:

  • Having previously identified the Bulls as one team interested in free agent wing James Ennis, Scotto adds a few more clubs to that list, suggesting that Ennis has also drawn interest from the Trail Blazers, Lakers, and Magic. Ennis, who has spent most of the last two seasons in Orlando, knocked down 43.3% of his three-point attempts in 2020/21.
  • Another player who has received interest from the Trail Blazers is big man Isaiah Hartenstein, according to Scotto, who says the Clippers have kicked the tires on the former Cav as well. As I detailed on Tuesday, Hartenstein is the only player who is still a free agent after declining an option earlier this summer.
  • Before he signed with Chicago, Alize Johnson generated interest from a handful of other teams, including the Clippers, Suns, and Knicks, per Scotto. If the Clippers had wanted Johnson badly enough, they could’ve claimed him off waivers using one of their trade exceptions, which wasn’t an option for Phoenix or New York.
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