The Team USA 3X3 men's basketball team struggled at the Paris Olympics, ending pool play with a 2-5 record and losing 21-6 to the eventual champions, the Netherlands. Big 3 CEO and cofounder Ice Cube caught everyone's attention by promising to avenge Team USA. He heightened the stakes by challenging the 3×3 gold winners to a $150,000 bet.
Team USA's Olympic debut saw a rough start with four consecutive losses, including a 22-14 thrashing by Serbia. They rebounded with wins against China and host France but ultimately ended their run with a defeat to the Netherlands. The early exit of the World Cup silver medalists was unexpected for many observers.
Ice Cube upping the stakes for the Olympics 3×3 gold medalists
“We officially challenge @3x3nl to a game vs the BIG3 All Stars in Boston on August 18th. All travel expenses will be paid for. [The] winner takes home $150,000,” Big3 posted in X (formerly Twitter).
In another X (formerly Twitter) post via Ballislife Ice Cube reacted on the recent loss of Team USA saying, “They got their a** kicked. They need our players, without a doubt. The whole world can see that.”
“Gold medal winner, it’s your homeboy Ice Cube. Whatever country wins the gold medal, y’all need to come to Boston. We all gonna pay for your trip to Boston, hotels [and] give you a little cash, and let’s see who’s the best in the world. We believe that our All-Stars will take you down,” Ice Cube emphasized with confidence.
The Big 3 CEO's earlier appearance in the Pat McAfee show
Ice Cube recently went on the Pat McAfee Show to reiterate his challenge to the Netherlands' gold-winning men's three-on-three basketball national team.
“Of course, the NBA is over USA Basketball. That’s one thing that’s an issue with why we don’t have the best 3X3 athletes in the world in Paris. And they have this weird point system that they make these players go through, but they don’t make the NBA players go through it,” said the Big3 CEO.
During his appearance, he asserted that players from the Big3 are superior to the Olympic 3×3 basketball players and challenged the gold-medal winners to a game against all-stars from his league.
“So we feel like they should have the BIG3 players in the Olympics. We do have the best 3X3 players in the world, and it’s not even close,” he continued.
The Team USA 3×3 roster features only one former NBA player, Jimmer Fredette, who was the top 3×3 player before the Olympics. The other three team members—Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox, and Dylan Travis—went undrafted by NBA teams.
Fredette started his professional 3×3 basketball career in 2022. He debuted at the 2022 Red Bull USA Basketball 3X East Regional, leading team NYC Blue to a win. Later that year, he earned a spot on the USA Men's 2022 three-on-three AmeriCup team.
“We’re so confident, Pat, that we want to challenge the gold-medal winners to a game. We can play right before our championship game, in Boston, August 18, we’ll fly them in, and they can play against our all-stars, and we’ll see who’s the best in the world,” Ice Cube added.
Jeff Teague chiming in Ice Cube's challenge
The BIG3 league boasts 12 teams filled with former NBA talent. However, considering the performance of the United States' three-on-three men's national team at the Paris Olympics, Ice Cube and the BIG3 All-Stars might find defeating the new reigning world champs more challenging than anticipated.
Even former NBA player turned podcaster Jeff Teague shared his thoughts in his latest episode on the Club 520 Podcast, suggesting that players from Ice Cube's BIG3 league should have represented Team USA in Paris.
“That would've been dope and we would've had more talent in there. They'd have to pay though,” Teague remarked. “We would've got Joe Beast, Jordan Crawford, we probably would've killed them.”
The BIG3 may not yet match the scale of leading 3×3 leagues in Europe, but it's a promising step for the sport. It remains to be seen whether the league will become a key platform for 3×3 basketball or if a FIBA-oriented competitor will rise to prominence.
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