Yes, you read that headline correctly. Rapper Ice Cube -- he of both N.W.A. and Are We There Yet? the TV show -- is starting his own professional 3-on-3 basketball league. Complete with former NBA players, a commissioner, and coaches.
According to a report from Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, Cube has plucked former NBAer and NBPA executive Roger Mason to act as commissioner.
The league, called BIG3, will play games over the course of the summer as a means to satiate hungry NBA fans and their need for some roundball.
Plans include eight teams of five players – including an ex-player as coach, as well as a team captain – that’ll tour together from city to city starting in late June.
So far, retired NBA players Kenyon Martin, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, Rashard Lewis and Jason Williams are some of the players committed to play on teams, league officials said.
Cube says the league is meant to act as an outlet for players who aren’t sharp enough for the NBA but don’t want to take their skills overseas or work in league media.
BIG3 will have eight teams to start in late June, playing for 10 weeks as they tour throughout the country together. Four games will apparently be played each week, in each location, and as part of a festival atmosphere with musical acts and other entertainment.
The league is still trying to acquire a TV deal.