The Big3, the three-on-three professional basketball league, unveiled its full 10-week schedule. The season will tip off June 25 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, followed by regular season stops in Charlotte, Philadelphia, Tulsa, Nashville, Dallas, Lexington, KY and Los Angeles. The Big3 Playoffs will bring professional basketball back to Seattle on August 20. The inaugural season Champions will be crowned in Las Vegas on August 26.
The Big3 games in Philadelphia will mark the return to the city of NBA Hall of Famers and Philadelphia 76ers icons Allen Iverson and Julius “Dr. J” Erving. In addition to bringing basketball back to Seattle, the league playoffs will provide Seattle fans the chance to see SuperSonics legends Gary Payton and Rashard Lewis. Other stops will include Rupp Arena, the most famous college basketball venue in the country, and Los Angeles’ Staples Center, home to the Lakers and Clippers.
“When we created the Big3, we set out to bring elite basketball talent and highly competitive 3-on-3 action to fans across the country,” said Big3 President and Commissioner Roger Mason Jr. “We couldn’t be more excited to deliver on that promise, and unveil our 2017 season schedule including cities that are home to some of the sport’s most diehard fans.”
The full schedule, including venues, is as follows:
- June 25: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
- July 2: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
- July 9: BOK Center, Tulsa, OK
- July 16: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
- July 23: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
- July 30: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
- August 6: Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
- August 13: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
- August 20: Key Arena, Seattle, WA (Playoffs)
- August 26: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV (Championship Finals)
Big3 games will be played every Sunday in a different city, in a quadruple header at the same venue. Games will be presented the following night in primetime at 8 p.m. EST on Fox Sports 1 in a “Monday Night Basketball” experience. The league championship will be played on Saturday, August 26 and broadcast live on the Fox broadcast network at 4:30 p.m. EST. Tickets for most dates will go on sale May 6 at Ticketmaster.com.
The Player Captains and Coaches of each team have been announced:
- 3’s Company: Captains Player/Coach Allen Iverson and DerMarr Johnson
- Three-Headed Monsters: Captains Rashard Lewis and Jason Williams, Coach Gary Payton
- Killer 3s: Captains Chauncey Billups and Stephen Jackson, Player/Coach Charles Oakley
- Ghost Ballers: Captains Mike Bibby and Ricky Davis, Coach George Gervin
- Trilogy: Captains Kenyon Martin and Al Harrington, Coach Rick Mahorn
- Tri-State: Captains Jermaine O’Neal and Bonzi Wells, Coach Julius ‘Dr. J’ Erving
- Power: Corey Maggette and Cuttino Mobley, Coach Clyde Drexler
- Ball Hogs: Brian Scalabrine, Player X, Coach Rick Barry
More than 70 former NBA stars have signed on to compete for the remaining 24 spots on the Big3’s 8 teams. Players currently eligible for the 2017 Big3 draft and vying for the remaining roster spots include: Latrell Sprewell, Steve Francis, Kendall Gill, Keith Bogans, Isaiah ‘J.R.’ Rider, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Marcus Banks, Earl Boykins, Derrick Byars, Josh Childress, Brian Cook, Ndudi Ebi, Reggie Evans, Donte Greene, Shane Heal, Larry Hughes, Mike James, Ivan Johnson, Jumaine Jones, Voshon Lenard, Rashad McCants, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Lawrence Moten, Ronald Murray, Lee Nailon, Andre Owens, Smush Parker, Jamario Moon, Ruben Patterson, Eddie Robinson, Xavier Silas, Joe Smith, DeShawn Stevenson, Mike Sweetney, Etan Thomas, Hakim Warrick, and James White.
Featuring professional basketball’s first four-point shot, Big3 games will be packed with skilled, competitive matchups in the world’s most popular form of basketball – three-on-three. The winning team will be the first to score 60 points.
Photo courtesy Big3
