By DaVince “Dino” Wright
Big 3
Place: American Airline Center
Time: 4 p.m.
TV: Fox Sports
A few years ago 3 on 3 was the biggest thing to hit basketball in years. Dallas was home to the largest 3 on 3 tournament in the world called Hoop It Up. Players from all over the world would come and participate in living out their hoop dreams in the streets of Dallas West End. That seemed like a million years ago. Flash forward to Friday night in Dallas. The American Airlines Center will be filled to capacity with basketball junkies. The Big 3 is taking over.
The league was founded by rapper, producer, actor and movie mogul Ice Cube. Along with his partner Jeff Kwatinetz the league started in 2017 and has acquired a large following In a very short span. The league features all time greats from the NBA. The leagues commissioner is NBA Hall Of Famer Clyde Drexler from The Houston Rockets. Amy Trask is the Chairman of the Board and Angelica Cob-Baehler is Chief Marketing Officer. Adidas is the outfitter for the league as well.
There are only 12 teams in the league. They only play 8 regular season games in 8 different cities around the country. The teams consists of 7 players. The games are played in a half court setting. The first team to score 50 points wins the game. Half time is at the halfway point (25 points) scored by any team. Not only do the league has a three point line, but they also have a 4 point spot (3) three in different spots on the floor. Here`s the current standings and captains for each team.
Teams are coached by NBA legends such as: “Ice Man” George Gervin, Rick Barry, Nancy Liberman, Charles Oakly, Gilbert Arenas, Lisa Lesile, Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Micheal Cooper, Stephen Jackson, Rick Mahorn, Gary Payton and Reggie Theus just to name a few.
The teams playing on Saturday afternoon are:
Game 1: Ghost Ballers vs Ball Hogs 3pm Tipoff
Game 2: Power vs Killers 3’s 3:50pm Tipoff
Game 3: Enemies vs Triplets 4:40 pm Tipoff
Game 4: Tri State vs 3’s Company 7:00 pm Tipoff
Game 5: Trilogy vs Aliens 7:40 pm Tipoff
