Ice Cube, a.k.a O'Shea Jackson, is a music legend as a rapper and songwriter, actor, film producer, and of course, huge basketball fan.
In January 2017, Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwaitnetz founded the BIG3 – a 3v3 basketball league played in the summer, meant to fill the gap between the end of the NBA Finals in June and the beginning of the NFL season in September.
The league is described as having no garbage minutes, trash talk is allowed and with games being played to a score instead of time, there’s no garbage time. There are also three- and four-point shots!
The BIG3’s seventh season tipped off on June 15th and broadcasts live on CBS and Paramount. The league also announced a partnership with Twitter/X to air live games, exclusive content, and behind-the-scenes access. The league returned to a touring model for the 2024 season, visiting 10 cities across the United States.
The BIG3 has no shortage of star power with big names as players and coaches such as George Gervin, Nancy Lieberman, Lisa Leslie, Nick Swaggy P Young, Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, etc.
The games are first to 50, untimed, and with a 14-second shot clock, keeping the pace fast and entertaining for the viewer.
“Great competition, it’s real start to finish league in 10 weeks,” Ice Cube described. “All games have huge stakes, not like the NBA where you miss 10 games, that’s ok we've got 10 more (while laughing!)… great to see a season start to finish between NBA Finals and start of the NFL regular season. Perfect window in the dog days of summer.”
But Cube – what about golf?
“Golf is cool, go watch some golf, if you like the culture, like to see guys balling, like to see guys you know playing the game you love, nothing better than the Big 3, nothing hotter than the Big 3!”
Ice Cube's all-time NBA BIG3 team
Speaking of 3v3, if Ice Cube could pick his all-time Big 3, who would be on it?
- Michael Jordan
- Shaquille O’Neal
- Kobe Bryant
“Michael Jordan of course… it’s hard to not go with Shaq… you can’t lose with Kobe, Jordan, and Shaq. How could you lose with that combo?”
Mic drop.
It’s pretty hard to argue with this three.
Jordan is highly regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time (LeBron James stans will beg to differ) with six NBA titles, six NBA Finals MVPs, five regular season MVPs, 14 all-star appearances, etc.
Bryant was a legend, who emulated his game after Jordan, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA titles including a three-peat with Shaq from 2000-02.
O’Neal, highly regarded as the most dominant big man of all time, is one of just three players to win NBA MVP, NBA All-Star Game MVP, and NBA Finals MVP all in the same year (2000).
Forty-seven All-Star appearances, 15 NBA titles, 11 Finals MVPs, the hardware is off the charts. And the championship DNA and experience.
I floated another name to Cube during our chat – the three-point king, Stephen Curry.
Cube recognized his greatness but was concerned about him going up 1v1 vs MJ and/or Kobe.
“I think he’d get locked up by Jordan or Kobe…. they all play CRAZY defense.”
MJ was the 1988 Defensive Player of the Year and both Jordan and Bryant were 9x All-NBA Defensive First Team. Defensive wins championships.
Kobe Bryant
Bryant spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Black Mamba won five NBA championships and was an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA Team, a 12-time All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP (2009, 2010) as he and Pau Gasol led the Purple and Gold to back to back titles.
He also led the NBA in scoring twice and ranks fourth in the NBA’s all-time scoring in the regular season and postseason.
He was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
“Mamba Mentality is real,” Cube explained. “I like players who have no mercy for their opponent…. these are superheroes in a box, the court the game the things they can do… you want a gunslinger to come to town with a frown not a smile, it was amazing to watch an athlete that skilled.”
When asked for his take on the NBA’s all-time GOAT debate, Cube said he wants the GOAT debate to die. He’s “had enough of the GOAT!”
He then explained that if he had to pick a GOAT, there’s only one option:
“KOBE. BRYANT.”
“He’s the only one that’s really won championships in all eras. He played in the rough and tough 90s, he played against a zone, Jordan never seen a zone. Lebron's never seen players as rough as the 90s. “
In 2017, the Lakers retired both his Nos. 8 and 24, making him the only player in NBA history to have multiple numbers retired by the same franchise.
The all-time leading scorer in Lakers history, Bryant became the first guard in NBA history to play 20 seasons. His 18 All-Star designations are the third most all-time, and he has the second most consecutive appearances as a starter.
“Kobe’s the only one whose won championships in both eras…. Athletically skil wise he’s unmatched. Jordan got the hands, hang time that was next level. Kobe was a master.”
NWA
NWA, formed in early 1987, consisted of Arabian Prince, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, and Ice Cube, with DJ Yella and MC Ren joining later that year. They released their first compilation album as a group in 1987, called N.W.A. and the Posse, which peaked at No. 39 on Billboard magazine's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Arabian Prince left shortly after the release of N.W.A's debut studio album, Straight Outta Compton, in 1988, with Ice Cube following suit in December 1989. Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and Dr. Dre later became Platinum-selling
“George Clinton James Brown, Prince, all these dudes who did in their own way thats what we did….we didnt think we were gonna make a splash or any money, we thought we were making great records for what we saw in our neighborhoods and what we was living thru and had to try to figure out a way to express ourselves in a creative way not a destructive way!”
What does he want NWA to be remembered for?
“I want people to look at this and say this opened up artists to be themselves no matter what they wanted to say or what picture they wanted to paint.”
They were among the earliest and most significant popularizers of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential groups in the history of hip-hop music.
In 2016, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,[13][14] following three previous nominations.
Straight Outta Compton was the first rap album ever to gain five stars from Rolling Stone at initial review, it placed 70th among the magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in its 2020 revised list. Time, in 2006, named it one of the 100 greatest albums of all time.[73]
Vibe appraised it as one of the 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century.[74] In 2012, Slant Magazine listed it 18th among the “Best Albums of the 1980s”.
Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Clark is arguably the greatest women’s collegiate basketball player of all time. She is the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer and was a two-time national player of the year with the Iowa Hawkeyes. She was selected first overall by the Fever in the 2024 WNBA draft.
Clark became the women's Division I career and single-season leader in points and three-pointers and broke the all-time conference record in assists, while leading the nation in both points and assists.
Clark, currently with the Indiana Fever, was offered $5 million to play in Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball league.
What could Clark bring to The BIG3?
“Not only more eyeballs, more viewers, more sponsors, more interest but we think she can be successful,” Ice Cube explained. “And pairing her with Nancy Lieberman whose broken those barriers… you’ll see her draining 4s in the big 3, breaking barriers and barriers in people's mind. That’s what is most important.”
Clark was selected No. 1 overall last month by the Indiana Fever. Her first-year salary in the WNBA will be $76,535 and climb to $97,582 by her fourth season.
WNBA rookie salaries for lottery draft picks (Nos. 1 through 4) in 2024 are $76,535 and climb to $97,582 by their fourth season.
Clark already has an impressive endorsement portfolio including Nike, State Farm, Gatorade, etc.
If you include the playoffs, it would be a 10-week commitment in the summer for Clark to play in the BIG3.
Cube is also confident in her jumper translating to BIG3 if she were to ever join the league.
“I think she could lead the league in them… she definitely has the range.”
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Watch the full Ice Cube interview with Rob Lepelstat on the ClutchPoints YouTube page. Past guests include Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ray Lewis, Lawrence Taylor, Ice Cube and Mark Messier.
Follow Rob on Twitter @RobLep1, Instagram @STATSports1co, and subscribe to STAT Sports with Rob Lepelstat on YouTube.
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