The Big3, encountered an unexpected obstacle when their plans to challenge the 2024 Paris Olympic 3×3 Men’s Basketball gold medalists, the Netherlands, were abruptly canceled. In response, the hip-hop icon Ice Cube recently voiced his frustration, accusing FIBA of deliberately intervening to sabotage the exhibition game.
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In a conversation with CBS Sports, Ice Cube praised the Netherlands for agreeing to compete in The Big3’s Championship Weekend on August 18, 2024. However, he soon accused FIBA of blocking the European giants from participating, suggesting that political reasons were at play. Expressing his frustration publicly, Cube mentioned,
“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
The drama began earlier this month with Ice Cube‘s comments on The Pat McAfee Show. He openly criticized USA Basketball’s selection criteria, which required 3-on-3 players to participate in at least nine events in a calendar year to be considered for a national team roster spot.
The rapper argued that this led to Team USA missing out on its best talents, many of whom, according to him, were featured in The Big3. Shortly after, he showcased further confidence in his co-founded league by issuing a challenge to the Olympic champions, declaring,
“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”.
Interestingly, the Netherlands was eager for this challenge. Shortly after the conclusion of the Olympic event, they even submitted a proposal to FIBA on August 9, 2024, to participate in this game. However, the international association denied their request, allegedly 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”.
This justification undoubtedly didn’t sit right with Ice Cube, prompting him to make the recent dubious comments. At the same time, FIBA’s statement undermined The Big3’s credibility, questioning its role in talent identification. Consequently, this increased the complexities around this league, with the music artist now facing a more challenging battle to prove his stance in the future.
