DALLAS — The BIG3 is back in the Big D!
The three-on-three basketball league founded by hip-hop icon and Hollywood actor Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz is entering its sixth season with a stop in Dallas.
And Ice Cube says they’re calling it the “Summer of Fire!” – kicking off six games for the price at one at noon on Saturday, July 1 at the American Airlines Center. For tickets, which start around $27, click here.
When he co-founded BIG3 in 2017, which consists of 12 teams whose rosters include both former NBA players and international players, Ice Cube told WFAA that DFW was also in the plans.
Cube said he loves the energy in DFW and shouted the fans that packed the arena, especially when Frisco provided a COVID-safe bubble last season.
“They came out there and supported,” he said.
But now it’s a full-court press into bigger arenas, including the AAC.
“It’s cool to be back,” Cube said. "We got one big day of BIG3 Fire Ball and yo, we want everybody to come out and have a good time, like we always do around this time.”
Cube said not only should fans expect a big day of basketball, but they’ll be celebrating 50 years of Hip-Hop, Texas-style.
“We got a lot of Texas artists coming through to entertain the people,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The league is bringing star power and legends of the game of basketball too, like Dallas’ own Nancy Lieberman.
Lieberman, a two-time Olympian, three-time All-American and a Naismith and Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer, is the head coach of BIG3’s Power. She would love to add another championship to her resume! In 2018, she led her BIG3 team to a championship and was named Coach of the Year, again making history as the first-ever female to do so.
“We have a great team led by Cuttino Mobley, our sixth year veteran,” Lieberman said. “We played really well in Dallas in our game against the 3 Headed Monsters, and every week we just want to get a little bit better.”
Lieberman is also the official ambassador of DFW’s WNBA team the Dallas Wings, helping to expand the team’s community reach in Texas. She gave her own shoutout to the Dallas fans.
“They have always rallied around big events, they love the BIG3,” she said. “From what the Mavericks have done, the Dallas Wings, this city loves the best of the best. And Cube and the BIG3 and our players are exceptional.”
Another passion of Lieberman’s is her “Dream Court” initiative -- providing basketball courts in hopes of giving children a place to build relationships and a love for the game in safe environments.
“She actually put one in my old neighborhood too,” Cube said. “It’s been great that Nancy has this charity that gives back to the great game that we love, under-privileged neighborhoods that really need it.”
Building solid relationships through sports is the mission, they both echoed. And if that love spills over and continues to build the BIG3, Cube would be more than ecstatic.
Cube also has his eyes on a bigger prize too – expanding BIG3 on the global scale. In fact, this year’s championship game is being held at London’s O2 arena.
It’s going to be a big summer! Doors to watch all six games open at 11 a.m. Saturday at the AAC.