It looks like things are souring between the NBA and perhaps the second most notable American basketball league, the BIG3 League, which was founded by legendary rapper Ice Cube. The BIG3 League, which was founded in 2017, consists of mostly retired NBA players, but now the NBA itself is facing allegations that it worked to torpedo the league in a variety of ways, per TMZ.

Apparently, the United States Department of Justice recently launched an inquiry into the NBA regarding alleged anticompetitive behavior that included preventing potential sponsors and partners from engaging in partnerships with the BIG3 League as well as discouraging television networks from carrying their games.

The BIG3 was founded in 2017 by Ice Cube and his business partner, Jeff Kwatinetz, per TMZ. The league, as probably implied by its name, features 3 on 3 competition from some of the NBA's biggest former stars, including players like Joe Johnson, Rashard Lewis, Gerald Green, and others. The league is a helpful way to keep former basketball stars playing the game they love and generating revenue in a setting independent of the NBA.

Now, the NBA itself is responding to these allegations. Recently, NBA spokesman Mike Bass stated bluntly that “those claims are not true,” per TMZ.

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He also stated that “we have been supportive of the Big3 since its inception, but we declined to invest.”

Whatever the outcome of the United States Department of Justice's investigation, it's hard to envision relationships between Ice Cube and the NBA improving anytime soon with these latest developments.