BIG3

Ice Cube Thanks J. Cole For Shoutout On Drake’s “First Person Shooter”

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Ice Cube thanked J. Cole on Twitter, Saturday, after the rapper mentioned The BIG3 basketball league in his verse on Drake’s song, “First Person Shooter.” The track is featured on Drake’s new album, For All The Dogs. In the third verse, Cole raps, “Love when they argue the hardest MC/Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?/We the big three like we started a league/But right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali.”

In response, Cube wrote on Twitter: “Shoutout to @JColeNC for mentioning @thebig3 on his new song with @Drake called “First Person Shooter”. Thanks for the love.” Cole has proven his basketball fandom numerous times throughout his career and even purchased a stake in the Charlotte Hornets, earlier this year.

Read More: Drake Says “For All The Dogs” Will Drop At Six In The Morning, Shares Tracklist

Ice Cube At The BIG3 Championship

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – SEPTEMBER 04: The Trilogy celebrate with Ice Cube after beating the 3 Headed Monsters 50-45 to win the BIG3 – Championship at Atlantis Paradise Island on September 04, 2021 in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

The thanks comes despite Cole’s affiliation with the NBA, which Cube says is working to “destroy” the BIG3. During an interview with Basketball News back in 2020, Cube explained: “The NBA hasn’t been the nicest to the BIG3. Of course, publicly, they say all the right words. But we know privately, there’s things done behind the scenes [with] sponsors, broadcasters, blah blah blah… It did tarnish my fandom a bit.” Check out Cube’s message for J. Cole below.

Ice Cube Thanks J. Cole

Drake dropped “First Person Shooter” along with the rest of For All The Dogs on Friday, October 6. In addition to Cole, the project boasts features from Teezo Touchdown, 21 Savage, Yeat, SZA, PartyNextDoor, Chief Keef, Bad Bunny, Sexyy Red, and Lil Yachty. Drake is currently wrapping up his It’s All a Blur Tour with a show in Columbus set for October 9, 2023.

Read More: Drake’s Son Adonis Breaks Down “For All The Dogs” Album Cover Drawing

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Jaylen Brown Becomes First Active NBA Player To Appear In The Big3

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Boston Celtics star, and current richest man in the NBA, Jaylen Brown traded the NBA for the Big3, at least for a day. The superstar guard was confirmed to be playing in the All-Star Game of the league operated by Ice Cube. Furthermore, it makes Brown the first active NBA player to appear in the league in any format. Additionally, Cube has repeatedly blasted the NBA for the sake of support of his 3×3 summer league.

“Jaylen Brown is my hero. He’s making a humongous statement by being the first current NBA player to play in a BIG3 game. By suiting up for our All-Star game tomorrow, he’s doing everything in his power to help the league succeed. Salute. Forever grateful…,” Cube wrote on Twitter on August 25. The All-Star Game was part of the celebrations for the Big3 Championship, which was held in London on August 26. The Season 6 title was later won by Enemies, coached by Gilbert Arenas.

Read More: Jaylen Brown says he wants to use record contract to enact social change

Jaylen Browns Speaks On Big3 Participation

“Having some fun for charity, giving back to the community, and supporting,” Brown told sideline MC Brian Scalabrine about why he took part. “It’s amazing being in this environment,” said Brown. “Shout out to London, shout out to the O2, excited to give back to charity, excited to be a part of this, and I appreciate you, Ice Cube.” Additionally, Brown put up 9/5/2 in Team Big’s loss to Team 3. Brown was playing to help local youth charity London Youth. Furthermore, after the game, Cube announced that the league would be matching Brown’s donation.

Cube reiterated his thanks to Brown while hanging out beside him during the interview. “I was blown away. I asked him if he was sure if he wanted to make this move, and he was like, ‘Yo, I want to do this for the game, for the players, and it’s a big move for the league’, so I’m excited — this guy is my hero right now. We’re blessed to be in a position where we can give back. Me being able to set the stage for the greatest athletes in the world — just call me the chef.”

Read More: Ice Cube claims he was banned from both The Oprah Winfrey Show and The View

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SOURCE SPORTS: BIG3 Basketball Posts Growing Viewership Numbers Throughout Sixth Season

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BIG3 Basketball Posts Growing Viewership Numbers Throughout Sixth Season

The BIG3 basketball league is enjoying a significant boost in viewership during its sixth season, marking a notable 10% increase compared to the same period in 2022. Founded by Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz, the “Fireball” 3-on-3 league completed its sixth week of games with a strong showing. The latest weekend’s games saw 560,000 viewers and a .4 rating during the 1-3 pm ET time slot on CBS.

With an average of 530,000 viewers per broadcast on CBS and a .33 avg rating, the BIG3 outperformed other popular sports broadcasts, beating Premier League Soccer, WNBA on ESPN, and Premier Lacrosse League in viewer numbers.

READ MORE: Ice Cube Talks Season Six of The BIG3 and Hip-Hop50

“We’re thrilled with the continued growth and excitement for BIG3 action this summer,” said BIG3 co-founder Ice Cube. “The fast-paced games and star players really resonate with fans looking for top-level sports entertainment.”

The league is also witnessing a surge in fan attendance, with the recent game in Boston’s TD Garden drawing 11,255 enthusiastic spectators. The excitement reached a high when Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown graced the court with his presence.

On the court, Trilogy’s Ryan “Hezi God” Carter set a new single-game scoring record with an impressive 35 points, leading his team to victory over 3’s Company. The race for the playoffs is heating up, with teams striving to secure their spots. The next games take place in Charlotte’s Spectrum Center on August 5, promising more thrilling action for basketball enthusiasts.

The post SOURCE SPORTS: BIG3 Basketball Posts Growing Viewership Numbers Throughout Sixth Season first appeared on The Source.

The post SOURCE SPORTS: BIG3 Basketball Posts Growing Viewership Numbers Throughout Sixth Season appeared first on The Source.

Ice Cube Responds To Person Calling Him A “Sellout”

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Ice Cube is becoming quite the vocal advocate on Twitter. He recently posted a Tweet essentially telling people to stop voting blindly, to do the work, research candidates, and make informed decisions. As a result, somebody with the Twitter handle @libratime76 called Ice out: “…I’m highly disappointed in you, brotha, what’s your mission? Because of you, I still rep the West, [please] tell me [you’re] not selling out.”

In response, Ice Cube went absolutely ballistic with a Tweet reply: “Sellout? I work for myself. I’m self-made. How do you feed your family??? How much do you sell your time for per hour on your job?” The Twitter battle took place on Wednesday, July 12th. And while the person who called Cube out is a supposed fan, Cube took the offhand question personally, as he has recently been taking a lot of things personally.

Read more: Ice Cube Responds After Tony Yayo Puts The Notorious B.I.G. Above Him As A Storyteller

Ice Cube’s Social Media Hot Take Tour

The man is definitely not allergic to starting things or replying to smoke over social media. In the last week alone, he’s mentioned that the Illuminati probably exists, called out the entire National Basketball Association for lack of coverage for his Big3 League, and claimed that the music and prison industries are in lockstep together. Add to that this denial of being a sellout, and Ice Cube has had one hell of a week.

Ice Cube has been a staple of the West rap game since the mid-80s. He got his start with the rap group NWA before setting his sights on a solo career. More recently, Ice Cube has turned into both an actor and entrepreneur. He has many movie credits under his belt, and the Big3 Basketball League is his pride and joy. But at the rate he’s going, we might have to add “social media warrior” to his long list of accolades. Ideally, something comes along to take his attention off of the Twitter mentions.

Read more: Ice Cube Claims The Music And Prison Industries Work Together

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Ice Cube Calls Out NBA For Lack Of Big3 Coverage

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Ice Cube has been trying to make his Big3 Basketball League mainstream for a few years now. However, he has this feeling that the entire basketball world is against him. Case in point: The rapper-turned-actor-turned-league-founder ripped on the NBA regarding their lackadaisical coverage of the 3-on-3 league. He says that he’s now “part of the club” and that his league is pissing the “gatekeepers” off.

“Mainstream media, they ain’t f*cking with us,” Ice Cube says in the four-minute video he posted on Twitter. “And that’s cool, we can do it ourselves, you know what I’m saying?” He digs deep into how while the NBA isn’t necessarily working with them, and he doesn’t want them to, he wants the NBA to stop working against the Big3. “We still on the rise without these motherf*ckers,” he claims. “If we don’t need ’em, you don’t need ’em.”

Read more: Ice Cube Calls Out “Gatekeepers” Blocking His Big3 League

Ice Cube Heated Over NBA Working Against Big3

Ice Cube asks himself what he’s going to do to deal with the gatekeepers and the NBA allegedly trying to keep the Big3 League quiet. He says he will go on a “F*ck The Gatekeepers” podcast tour. Ice wants to get his message out, letting people know straight from the source what he’s seeing on the backend of the basketball business. “Some people may get pissed off because I’m going to talk to everybody,” he says at the end of the video. “I’m not playing.”

The goal of the Big3, according to Ice Cube, is to give the fans something during the doldrums of summer sports. The only major offering is baseball, with Wimbledon and a few golf tournaments sprinkled in. With the Big3, fans get a fun, competitive basketball product with familiar names. While Ice is working to silence the critics and push through the gatekeepers, there is plenty of support. Rapper 50 Cent is on record praising the Big3. He congratulated the former NWA rapper for “creating a path” for more sports leagues to crop up in what’s mostly a monopolized industry.

Read more: Ice Cube Claims The Music And Prison Industries Work Together

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Ice Cube Calls Out “Gatekeepers” Blocking His Big3 League

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Ice Cube slammed “gatekeepers” on Twitter, Sunday, for putting up resistance to the growth of his BIG3 basketball league. He says he’ll be going on a “Fuck the Gatekeepers” podcast tour this summer to expose those working against him.

“I’ma go talk to everybody,” the former N.W.A. rapper said. “Everybody. And get a chance to get my message out to the people. Be able to let people hear from me. And, you might agree, you might not. But, the important thing is, for me to go on these platforms and say what I feel about what I think.”

Read More: Ice Cube Reveals Interesting BIG3 Ratings Statistic

Ice Cube Attends A Big3 Game In NYC

NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 25: Ice Cube applauds during week one of the BIG3 three on three basketball league at Barclays Center on June 25, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Cube says that he’s been getting pushback from the NBA and major television networks since launching the league in 2017. He continued: “Some people may get pissed off. ‘Cause I’m going to talk to everybody. I’m not playing. It’s gone be a cr*zy summer. It’s gone be fun.”

Despite the lack of support from mainstays in the industry, Cube says that the Big3 is more popular than ever. Appearing on Logan Paul’s IMPAULSIVE podcast, earlier this year, he claimed that the league attracts more views than both the MLS and NHL. “It’s been hard as hell to get it going. I mean, to get people to start fighting us on these different fronts,” Cube said at the time. “Our ratings are better than MLS, our ratings are better than NHL. So we got a sport that’s making noise. I wouldn’t know the world no different. This is just a new version of the same song. We dealt with it in music, movies and we’re dealing with it in sports.”

Ice Cube Calls Out “Gatekeepers”

He continued: “We’ve had five great seasons so we’re planning to have our sixth, but the challenges are there for any young league. We’re just meeting them head-on and it’s cool people will get a chance to see what we’re going through.” The new season of Big3 will be kicking off at United Center Arena in Chicago on June 25.

Read More: Ice Cube Announces Big3 Docuseries

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50 Cent Praises Ice Cube For “Creating A Path” With BIG3

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50 Cent has recently taken to social media to congratulate Ice Cube. Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball league was just officially recognized as the first Black-owned sports league in the U.S. 50 Cent shared the news on Instagram, along with a message for Ice Cube. “Ice Cube has done some great sh*t over the years creating a path artist from our culture can follow,” he wrote.

Ice Cube has previously shared that the goal behind his BIG3 league is to improve American cities. “The country is very uneasy right now,” he told Wall Street‘s Maria Bartiromo, “Everybody got to do their part. The BIG3, we’re going from city to city this year. We’re not in our bubble like we have been in the last couple of years. We’re going to be all over the country this summer, hopefully making cities a little better than we found them when we leave. That’s our plan. I think it should be everybody’s plan. Everybody’s got to look in the mirror and say, ‘What can I do to make things better?’ That’s the only way it’s going to change.”

Read More: 50 Cent Hailed As Good Luck Charm For The Vegas Golden Knights Following Stanley Cup Win

50 Cent Congratulates Ice Cube

50 Cent has taken on a sports initiative of his own recently, partnering with the Sacramento Kings to launch the Kings and Queens Rise Co-Ed Youth Sports and Mentoring League. He shares similar goals of improving communities and offering young people a “path.” He told The Sacramento Bee earlier this week, “I think idle time is the devil’s time. Especially in inner cities where you got so many different distractions, so many different influences, positive and negative.”

50 Cent continued, “They get a chance to be part of that team effort. I think it teaches them lessons that are priceless in the early stages.” He also called it “a great program,” adding, “I had fun hanging out with the kids, if we keep them active, they won’t go get in trouble.”

Read More: 50 Cent Partners With Sacramento Kings To Launch Youth Sports & Mentoring League

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Ice Cube Reveals Interesting BIG3 Ratings Statistic

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Ice Cube is more than just a legendary West Coast artist. Overall, he is a multi-talented musician who can act and also run some very successful businesses. Over the past few years, Cube has been working on his BIG3 basketball league. Although most new leagues fail, BIG3 is going steady. This league has former NBA stars playing 3-on-3 basketball. Moreover, there are some very unique rules such as the first to 50 points wins. There are no game clocks, and there are even some cool one-on-one challenges. All-in-all, it is a league that likes to experiment.

Over the years, Cube has been very honest about some of the challenges that the league has faced. For instance, he believes the NBA has been actively trying to suppress his league’s ready. Furthermore, there have been times when players have complained about not getting their money on time. However, Ice Cube has persevered with his league, and soon, a new season will begin. Ahead of this new season, Cube spoke to Logan Paul on his Impaulsive podcast. While there, he shared some interesting facts about the league.

Read More: Ice Cube’s BIG3 Goes International: A Championship Weekend In Paradise

Ice Cube Is Excited About The BIG3

Essentially, Ice Cube is adamant that the BIG3 is perfect for today’s fans. This is because the games are short and possess some unique rules. Moreover, Cube revealed that the BIG3 has already surpassed leagues like the NHL and the MLS when it comes to ratings. If true, this is a massive accomplishment for the growth of the league. People remain curious about what Cube has got going on over there. Additionally, the inclusion of retired NBA stars makes this league that much more attractive.

We got to attend the 2021 BIG3 championship game in Nassau, Bahamas. While there, it became clear that the league puts on a wonderful show. This year, the championship game will be played in London, England. Hopefully, for Ice Cube and the rest of the league, the BIG3 continues to see some growth. Fans are excited about the future, and the ratings are a good indicator that the league is here to stay. Let us know what you think of the BIG3, in the comments section below.

Read More: Ice Cube Talks Growing The BIG3, Playing In The Bahamas, & Popularizing 3-On-3 Basketball

Ice Cube Announces Big3 Docuseries

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In 2017, Ice Cube announced the formation of Big3. The Big3 is a 3-on-3 basketball league featuring former NBA stars and up-and-coming international players. The league features 12 teams, all helmed by former NBA players. The 2023 season is set to begin in June.

The league has a lot of star power, both on and off the court. With Ice Cube as the founder, former NBA legend Cylde Drexler serves as the commissioner. Players include Mario Chalmers, Rashard Lewis, Serbian 3×3 star Dušan Bulut, and Nick Young. Trilogy, coached by NBA journeyman Stephen Jackson and captained by James White, are the two-time defending champions.

Ice Cube Reveals Docuseries

Ice Cube has announced that fans will now get an in-depth look at the league in a new docuseries. The series will look at the trial and tribulations behind the league, including the obstacles Cube has faced to get the stature that the league has accrued. Furthermore, the series will not shy away from the legal battle the league waged against Qatari investors in 2018. Big3 sued the Qatar-based investment fund for $1.2 billion over claims that the investors were trying to meddle in and influence the league. The series will also highlight the tense relationship that the league has had with the NBA over the years. This has primarily been a result of drawing international players away from the league.

Additionally, the untitled docuseries will follow one team as they battle for a championship. This is a tried-and-tested format, best seen in HBO’s Hard Knocks series about the NFL. In announcing the documentary, Cube revealed why it was the right time to do so. “We have tremendous momentum going into the sixth season, coming off of record ratings and numerous sold out games. We’ve been making moves this offseason – getting certified by ByBlack, renewing with CBS, and recruiting and signing all-star players – to put together the best season yet and we can’t wait to show these cities what the BIG3 is all about.” It is unknown where the series will debut, but the Big3 currently has broadcasting deals with CBS and Paramount+. Be sure to check back at HotNewHipHop for all the latest details about the Big3 docuseries.

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Ice Cube Says America Is “Uneasy” Right Now

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Ice Cube says that America is “uneasy” right now. The legendary Compton rapper spoke about the state of the country during an interview with Wall Street‘s Maria Bartiromo about his BIG3 basketball league. Cube says that his goal with the league is to make cities across the country “a little better than we found them” while taking games on the road.

The conversation began with Cube revealing that he’s been meeting with MLB and NFL owners to learn about growing the BIG3. “We’ve been talking to owners of teams, some MLB, NFL,” he said. “We want real owners, guys who know how to promote the sport in their cities, a guy who knows the city. Not just a guy but investors who are familiar with the cities and very active in the cities they’re in. That’s part of our overall plan.”

Ice Cube Watching BIG3

FRISCO, TEXAS – JULY 02: Ice Cube looks on during the game between the Power and the Enemies in BIG3 Week Three at Comerica Center on July 02, 2022 in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images for BIG3)

From there, Cube said that people should be “worried” the country is on the wrong track. “I think they should be [worried],” he admitted. “The country is very uneasy right now. Everybody got to do their part. The BIG3, we’re going from city to city this year. We’re not in our bubble like we have been in the last couple of years. We’re going to be all over the country this summer, hopefully making cities a little better than we found them when we leave. That’s our plan. I think it should be everybody’s plan. Everybody’s got to look in the mirror and say, ‘What can I do to make things better?’ That’s the only way it’s going to change.”

Ice Cube has long been a voice for social and political change in the United States. In addition to his politically-charged verses, he’s constantly pushing for action from politicians. He previously worked on the “Contract With Black America” initiative for the Donald Trump re-election campaign in 2020 and more.

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