Bloggies

BIG3 Wraps Up Successful Inaugural Season with Championship Game in Las Vegas (PHOTOS)

Published on August 28, 2017

In what by all accounts has been labeled a success, Ice Cube’s BIG3 three-on-three basketball league wrapped up its inaugural season with a thrilling championship game, which featured the Trilogy team closing out the season with an undefeated record (10-0).

The championship matchup between the league’s two tops teams — Trilogy, who was led by Rashad McCants’ game-high 22 points, and the 3 Headed Monsters — featured back-and-forth, closely contested basketball that went down to the wire. In the end, Trilogy won the game 51-46, and the league championship overall. McCants was named the BIG3 Championship MVP.

More than 8,200 people were on hand at the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the BIG3 Championship, which also aired live on FOX.

As was the case in other cities where the BIG3 played this season, many celebrities and professional athletes were on hand to catch the action, including rapper/actor 50 Cent, NBA All-Star James Harden, comedian Cedric the Entertainer, boxing legend Evander Holyfield, former NFL All-Pro wide receiver Terrell Owens, race car driver Jeff Gordon, actor O’Shea Jackson Jr., music producer Swizz Beatz, UFC President Dana White, rapper Fabolous, rapper Tyga, Atlanta rapper Jeezy, hip-hop legend Flavor Flav, Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach Tyronn Lue and NBA guard Jason Terry.

The game also featured a halftime performance from rising hip-hop star Cardi B, who performed her hit single “Bodak Yellow.”

In the BIG3 Third Place game, the Ghost Ballers, led by Ricky Davis’ 22 points, beat Power 52-39.

Ice Cube, who co-founded the BIG3 league with entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz to fill what they felt was a void on the summer schedule, which left a huge number of basketball fans without professional-quality basketball to watch for many weeks.

The championship game marked the end to a 10-week season, which included eight regular season games and a playoff in Seattle, with each game averaging about 11,000 fans. On Fox Sports 1, the BIG3 games drew hundreds of thousands of viewers. The BIG3 games were also broadcast in more than 30 countries.

Next year, organizers say the BIG3 could feature new faces and a deeper talent pool.