Author: Monojit Mandal
Ice Cube, well-known rapper, actor and co-founder of the Big3 basketball initiative, recently took to social media to express his discontent with the NBA and the mainstream sports media over what he sees as the purposeful exclusion of his league. Ice Cube, whose real name is O’Shea Jackson, Sr., accused the NBA and major sports media sites of ignoring the Big3 in a video posted on his Twitter account last Sunday.
“Some of you may not have realized that I’m not a member of the club,” says Ice Cube in the video. And many of you who are listening to me now are not members of the club either.““And what I realized with the club is that what makes them so angry is when you don’t want to be part of their club [desnecessário] ,” he said. It annoys them. Which club am I referring to? I’m referring to the guardians’ club, which we all have to deal with. You know who they are, and they know who you are.“
The Big3, now in its sixth season, is made up of 12 teams made up largely of former NBA players and potential players looking to make a name for themselves. The 10-week league has renowned Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame players as head coaches, including George Gervin, Gary Payton and Lisa Leslie. It is essential to understand that the Big3 operates independently of the NBA, without any formal agreement.
Ice Cube also indicated his lack of interest in working with the NBA, saying: “I really don’t give a damn about working with the NBA”. When I say ‘work with us’, I want them to stop working against us“. Although he didn’t go into detail about his accusations against the NBA, his main point is that the Big3’s schedule coincides with a relatively quiet phase of the basketball season, when fans have fewer basketball options. Notably, the NBA Summer League runs from early to mid-July, while the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) regular season runs until the end of the summer.
Ice Cube enlisted the help of various sports and pop culture personalities to take part in and perform at Big3 tournaments in order to promote the league.