I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the money to go see the Big 3, Ice Cube's 3-on-3 basketball league that traveled from city to city this summer. It featured some of my favorite former NBA players, like Allen Iverson, Chauncey Billups, and Kenyon Martin. But I've spent a lot of my life watching and playing basketball, and I knew that 3-on-3 basketball can get a little tedious. So I was going to pass.
Then I considered that something like this might not come along again. The Big 3 might fold after one year. I wanted to see what a half-court pickup game with former NBA players looked like in person.
When my family and I arrived, we went straight to the merch table. We wanted to see what sort of t-shirts were available, because we love collecting interesting shirts. I didn't see anything I liked, but one of my sons bought a Ball Hogs t-shirt for twenty dollars. He's been wearing it about once a week.
We headed to our seats on the third level of the American Airlines Center in Dallas. When we reached the top of the escalator, we were met by AAC staff, who traded our tickets for seats on the second level, the Lexus Platinum level. I guessed they hadn't sold enough tickets to open up the third level. When we got to our new section, I found I was right. The entire third level of the arena had been curtained off.
We watched former Sonic and Magic forward Rashard Lewis warm up, along with another player I didn't recognize. I left our seats to meet up with some friends who were also attending. We talked for a few minutes until they left to get DeShaun Stevenson's autograph, a mission they promptly abandoned once they discovered how long the line was. Stevenson is a hero in Dallas thanks to his role on the 2011 Mavericks championship team, but there's a limit to our adulation.
The first game started, and the product was about what I expected. It featured Brian Scalibrine, and Billups, along with Stephen Jackson. This was the most entertaining game, because Jackson put on a full Captain Jack performance. He pushed, elbowed, scored, rebounded, and screamed at refs, all with a scowl plastered on his face. He even yelled at his coach, Charles Oakley. Billups and Jackson's team won in a game that wasn't close and featured very little action.
The next game that was entertaining featured Trilogy, and only because little known James White decided to taunt Mike Bibby for the entire game. I'm not really sure if it was an act or if there were bad feelings from a previous game, but White was in Bibby's face after every basket. Bibby ignored him, acting like a professional when everyone wanted him to go right back at White. The Big 3 is a spectacle, not the NBA. Maybe no one told Bibby.
The last game featured Iverson's team, and the crowd was hyped. I saw numerous Iverson jerseys all around the arena. The only problem was that Iverson didn't show up. Apparently, he was still in Chicago, the Big 3's last stop, gambling in a casino. As soon as the crowd figured out he was a no-show, they started leaving. The MC begged the fans to stay a couple times, promising a spectacular half-time show. No one listened.
We stayed for a few minutes because my youngest wanted to watch Stevenson play, then left early to beat the traffic. I usually don't leave sporting events early, but felt like I wasn't going to miss anything important. If a fight broke out I would've been incredibly disappointed.
I don't regret going to the Big 3, though I can't say I recommend going. If you've got nothing to do and get cheap tickets, it might be worth a try. It's definitely a trip down memory lane. So if you want an injection of nostalgia, check it out.
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