| |
 |
| |
Ice
Cube’s
Big 3
Season
Opens in
Detroit
Ellen
Chamberlain
Tell Us
Detroit
DETROIT
- Little
Caesar’s
Arena
hosted
Ice
Cube’s
BIG3
season
opener
on
Saturday
to a
star-studded
crowd.
Former
Pistons
players,
Chauncey
Billups
and Ben
Wallace,
were in
attendance.
R&B
singer
Brian
McKnight
was
spotted
in the
crowd
after
singing
to a
packed
audience
at
Detroit’s
annual
River
Days
festival.
NBA
legend,
Derrick
Coleman,
sat
courtside
watching
with NBA
legend
Steve
Smith
and his
fellow
1990
draft
pick,
Mahmoud
Abdul-Rauf,
play
with 3
Headed
Monsters
against
Trilogy.
“I
was just
laughing
at
Mahmoud
because
me and
him and
Gary
Payton
were
drafted
in the
same
year,”
Coleman
joked
good-naturedly
at
playing
professional
basketball
again.
Coleman,
Payton
and
Abdul-Rauf
were
drafted
first,
second
and
third,
respectively,
that
year.
While
the
former
two have
chosen
to
continue
to enjoy
their
retirement,
Abdul-Rauf
has
chosen
to
reenter
the
world of
professional
sports
at age
50.
He
and 3
Headed
Monsters
beat
Trilogy,
51 to
46. If a
win
weren’t
enough,
3 Headed
Monsters’
Larry
Sanders
proposed
to his
girlfriend
at
center
court
during
halftime.
She said
yes.
Power
won
against
3’s
Company,
50 to
38; and
Bivouac
beat
Enemies,
50 to
43.
BIG3
is a
professional
basketball
league
featuring
3-man
teams
playing
half-court
ball.
The game
has
rules
that
differ
from the
NBA,
like
4-point
zones
and two
timeouts
per
half.
League
rules
dictate
that the
first
team to
50 wins
the game
(halftime
occurs
when the
first
team
gets to
25).
When
asked
his
impression
of the
BIG3,
Coleman
says
watching
players
he grew
up with
on the
court
has been
exciting.
“I’m
old
school,”
said the
Detroit
native.
“So,
this is
much
better
playing
of
basketball
than
what I
see
today in
the
NBA.”
Ice
Cube
also
noted
BIG3’s
difference
in
style.
“(It’s)
hard-nosed
basketball,”
Cube
said
before
the
game. “A
little
trash
talking,
a little
hand
checking.”
The
aggression
of the
game got
the
attention
of fans
who
could be
heard
screaming
at
referees
and
players,
alike,
during
the
three
games
that
featured
former
NBA
players.
The
season
will
stop in
11
cities
to play
9
regular
season
games, a
playoff
game and
the
championship.
BIG3
will hit
Charlotte,
North
Carolina
on June
29.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
I
HI TECH NEWS
I
SPORTS
I
