Question: Which NBA legend is joining Ice Cube’s new three-on-three league as a player/coach? Answer: “The Answer.”
That’s right, Allen Iverson will be lacing up his Reeboks and playing some half-court ball in the BIG3 league. The 2001 MVP, now 41, last played in the NBA in 2010.
Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical broke the news Tuesday that Iverson will be one of eight player/coaches in the fledgling league. Other players will reportedly include Chauncey Billups, Rashard Lewis, Jermaine O’Neal, Stephen Jackson, Jason Williams and Kenyon Martin (here’s a guess that George Karl will have no involvement with the league).
Wojnarowski had previously reported that another Hall of Fame guard, Gary Payton, had agreed to become a BIG3 coach. The league plans to launch in June, when the NBA wraps up its playoffs, and feature eight teams of five players each staging mini-tournaments in various cities.
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“I thought of this concept as a fan who got sick of seeing his heroes retire and not play anymore,” Ice Cube told The Vertical in December. “A lot of these guys can still play once they retire — just not the back-to-backs or four games in five nights.
“I started to look at three-on-three basketball and wondered, ‘Why isn’t this played on a pro level?’ It’s the most normal form of basketball. And from there it was like, ‘Yo, why don’t we make this happen?’ ”
Helping Ice Cube will be former NBA player Roger Mason, who stepped down from his position as deputy executive director Roger Mason of the league’s players union. Along with Iverson, Williams figures to be an attraction, given how videos of the slick ball-handler’s recent rec-league exploits have gone viral.
Iverson is set to be part of a BIG3 news conference Wednesday, and it would be a shame if no one asked him about whether, as a coach, he intends to talk about practice.
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