Las Vegas has the Golden Knights and will welcome the Raiders in a few years, but many sports fans are clamoring for a professional basketball organization. Those fans will have to wait for an NBA franchise but for now, rapper/actor Ice Cube is willing to help fill the void.
Ice Cube's Big 3 basketball league is taking pride in making Las Vegas their unofficial home. The league hosted their inaugural draft on April 30 at the Planet Hollywood hotel-casino.
The Big 3 promises a unique brand of basketball featuring some of your favorite ex-NBA players. The teams are comprised of five players: a captain, co-captain, and three drafted players. The action itself will be 3-on-3 on a half court.
The full #BIG3Draft results are in! Retweet, debate and get excited for the June 25th season opener at @barclayscenter pic.twitter.com/pydwx4Ha9c
— BIG3 (@thebig3) April 30, 2017
This gives the game itself a different feel and should lead to high scoring games.
Will it be odd at first? Sure, but the league can be a nice addition to the usual baron summer sports months. The season opens on June 25th and culminates with a late-August championships game played at T-Mobile Arena here in Las Vegas.
The teams may not have the word "Vegas" in front of them, which can be looked at as a positive because it allows fans to pick from eight teams based on their favorite athletes. Are you from Las Vegas and get called a bandwagon fan for rooting for LeBron and the Cavaliers every year? That won't be a problem in the Big 3 league.
In many ways, the Big 3 is built for a city and a community like Las Vegas. It's a sports league looking to grow at the same time the city is ready to house professional sports. Enjoy watching the league and hopefully the eyes of another professional sports organization, the NBA.
