The Big 3 faced an unforeseen setback in Paris in 2024 were abruptly scrapped. The legendary hip-hop artist Ice Cube recently expressed his dissatisfaction in response. He argued that FIBA interfered on purpose to ruin the exhibition match.
Ice Cube commended the Netherlands for committing to participate in The Big3’s Championship Weekend on August 18, 2024, during an interview with CBS Sports. He soon countered that FIBA was preventing the European powerhouses from playing, implying that political motivations were involved. Cube officially expressed his dissatisfaction by mentioning:
“To their [The Netherlands’] credit, they accepted the challenge, but it’s FIBA. FIBA is scared of The Big3. So FIBA is preventing them from playing in our All-Star game. Don’t look like it’s gonna happen because of that. It sucks when politicians get in the way of sports and fandom”.
Ice Cube announced that the Netherlands accepted his challenge to play against the Big3 All-Stars, but FIBA is reportedly trying to block the game
(h/t @Ballislife) pic.twitter.com/PegQ4fWk1F
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 12, 2024
Ice Cube and the Controversy Around Around Big 3
Ice Cube’s remarks on The Pat McAfee Show earlier this month set the stage for the drama. He publicly attacked the selection standards set by USA Basketball. This required 3-on-3 players to play in nine or more events in a calendar year in order to be eligible for a berth on the national team roster.
Rapper claimed that as a result, Team USA lost out on many of its finest players, many of whom were included in The Big3. Soon after, he challenged the Olympic winners, demonstrating even more faith in his co-founded league, saying:
“We feel like they [the USA Basketball] should have the Big3 players in the Olympics. We do have the best 3-on-3 players in the world… We’re so confident that we wanna challenge the gold medal winners to a game. We can play right before our championship game in Boston. August 18th. We will fly them in and they can play against our All-Stars and we will see who is best in the world”.
It’s interesting to see that the Netherlands welcomed the challenge. They even made an application to FIBA on August 9, 2024, shortly after the Olympic event ended, to take part in this game. The international association, however, rejected their plea, purportedly citing:
“As the event in question is less than 10 days away, this timeframe has not been fulfilled. Considering the above, your request is hereby denied, and thus the Players are not authorized to participate in the aforementioned Big 3 event. Also, note that any unauthorized participation in a non-FIBA endorsed 3×3 event may lead to the contractually agreed penalties outlined in the Entry Form”.
Undoubtedly, Ice Cube wasn’t comfortable with this explanation, which is why he made the latest questionable remarks. In addition, The Big3’s legitimacy was called into question by FIBA’s comments, casting doubt on its ability to identify talent. As a result, this made this league more complicated, and the musician now has a harder fight ahead of him to support his position.
