Coming home is always a special moment, whether you’re an entertainer, athlete, or any other special icon.
BIG3 co-founder Ice Cube was primed to give fans a show they would not forget Sunday afternoon, as the professional 3-on-3 league’s regular season came to a close.
Cube talked about the anticipation of playing the Week 8 games in his hometown of Los Angeles. “I’m excited about finally being home,” Cube said. “coming to the Staples Center is symbolic for me because this is where I’ve seen the Lakers win championships. And when I envisioned the BIG3, I envisioned it to be in places like the Staples Center.”
In front of an energetic crowd of more than 10,000 fans, Staples Center was nothing short of normal, another star-studded afternoon filled with entertainment and sports icons.
Seated courtside along with Ice Cube were Oscar De La Hoya, Dwyane Wade, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, LL Cool J, Jeanie Buss, Jesse Williams, Snoop Dogg, Chris Brown, Lamar Odom, T-Pain, Kenny Smith, Martin Lawrence, LaVar Ball, LaMelo Ball and others.
Going into the four matchups, it was favorably headlined by the Killer 3s, who unleashed player -coach Charles Oakley, as he made his season debut against undefeated Trilogy.
The Killer 3s made things interesting in the second half, with a 15-0 run to pull within three at 26-23, but it was not enough as Trilogy’s high-scoring trio of Rashad McCants (game-high 17 points), Al Harrington (16) and James White (10) took over and pulled away 50-41, ultimately improving to an undefeated 8-0 record.
With each of the other three games all having playoff ramifications, competitive and hard-nosed basketball was at a high as teams all wanted to keep their championship dreams alive.
Head coach of Tri-State and well-known legend Julius Erving, led his troops to a victory over Power by a score of 51-42. Mike James was the high scorer with 17 points, Lee Nailon (13) and Dominic McGuire (10) as the trio all scored in double figures, they were later eliminated when the Ghost Ballers defeated 3-Headed Monsters.
Even with the loss for Power, they still secured the 3-seed with a 3’s Company upset loss, combined with the subsequent elimination at the hands of Ball Hogs, who finished with the worst record in the league only to ruin 3’s Company’s post-season hopes.
In the midst of it all, fans were treated to a halftime performance by West Coast legend Snoop Dogg, who performed his classic songs, “Next Episode” and “Drop It Like It’s Hot.”
As if that wasn’t enough for the fans, the night was seemingly capped off with a 4-point challenge between Ice Cube and Big Baller Brand’s LaVar Ball.
After a week of back and forth responses over social media, LaVar accepted Ice Cubes challenge, but ultimately ended in Cube getting the last laugh, as he beat the well known
“Big Baller” making more shots than him.
Next week , the playoffs will get underway, as the BIG3 moves to Seattle, WA at KeyArena on Sunday, August 20th. All eight teams will compete — the top four teams for the championship title, the bottom four teams for consolation ranking.
