冰立方享受着大三的美好时光

费城-本周，Ice Cube和Dakota Johnson在洛杉矶为一部新电影排练时被拍到。约翰逊身穿白色上衣、黑色皮夹克和破旧牛仔裤。多维数据集?他一直保持着时尚的运动风格:一顶Raiders帽子，墨镜和一件杀手3系列t恤，都是Big3的主打产品。

无论是在费城的场边还是在好莱坞拍摄，库伯仍然是他的3对3半场篮球联赛的著名面孔。Cube非常重视将Big3打造成不仅仅是一个小众体育联盟，它还充满了怀旧情绪。这位说唱歌手兼演员和他的前NBA球员联盟已经进入了第三个赛季，这个夏天从伯明翰到布鲁克林巡回演出，在抢手式的比赛中投中4分，第一个拿到50分。"这是冰块。一切都会变大的，”2007年NBA选秀状元格雷格·奥登说。

Cube是洛杉矶湖人队的铁杆球迷，他在休赛期公开欢迎全明星球员安东尼·戴维斯加入湖人队，并对魔术师约翰逊的离开表示失望。但就在NBA自由球员赛季正式开始前几个小时，库伯还在天普的里亚库拉斯中心为一场重要的三冠王比赛做准备，他对联盟中潜在未来球星所签下的百万美元合同的兴趣因周日的比赛而有所减弱。“不，我不担心今晚的NBA，”库伯说。“我现在有自己的联赛要担心。”

Big3也遇到了困难就像任何发展体育联赛,但它展示了其前扣篮冠军在国家电视处理CBS,今年扩大从八个团队12日达到18个市场在11周和最低年龄要求降至27。

Cube希望第三季的Big3变得更大。

“我们需要主流体育媒体更多的兴趣，当我在做采访的时候，”Cube说。“拥有这样的天赋水平，我不认为让全国的注意力都集中在联赛上有那么难。这是一流的，与一些最著名的篮球运动员。我们联盟中有篮球之神。我不明白，为什么不喜欢呢?”

在坦普尔，球迷们漫步在大厅里，喝着价值10美元的Big3 Baller Lemonade(百加地朗姆酒和柠檬水)，等着从座位上冲下来，拍一张名人堂成员的照片，比如Big3教练朱利叶斯欧文。一些三巨头球员甚至可能坐在球迷旁边，坐在较低的碗-是的，这是前尼克斯后卫内特罗宾逊在费城费城人布莱斯哈珀泽西跳出他的座位击掌的球员和球迷。虽然在湖人队或尼克斯队的比赛中，库伯的明星实力可能无法与一线明星相媲美，但他坐在肯塔基州教练约翰·卡利帕里(John Calipari)旁边，离坐在前排的说唱歌手兼演员LL Cool J只有几个座位之遥。费城篮球偶像山尼·希尔转向联盟专员克莱德·德雷克斯勒，对他说:“一大群人都不值得提拔。”

这是魔方牛肉的一部分。

下一个碗在坦普尔是相当满的，球迷延伸到第二层，一些在那里以2对1的门票交易，看一眼前76人队的雷吉埃文斯和杰森理查德森，奥登，格伦“大宝贝”戴维斯和卡洛斯布泽尔。这并不是一支梦之队，但是他们过去的黄金时间球员们仍然上演着华丽的扣篮和超长距离投篮，这提醒了球迷们为什么他们是NBA的首发球员和彩票的选择。半场比赛中，大个子大个子在球场上笨拙地走着，几乎没有防守。当瑞奇-戴维斯为鬼投进一记三分时，他只是转过身，朝着拜纳姆的意志迈出了两步。

"We're close to bein profit . "“我们还有一些工作要做。但兴趣是存在的。”

Cube设想有一天，现在的NBA球星可以在Big3打球，或者一些退役的伟大球员(比如文斯·卡特)可以直接从NBA退役，进入一个允许手动检查的联盟，这里有14秒的投篮时间。

Cube和BIG3的联合创始人兼所有者杰夫·克瓦蒂内茨(Jeff Kwatinetz)强调，他们的hooping品牌不仅仅是老前辈的联赛。

“我认为这是一种势利的事实，人们认为仅仅因为这些家伙不是NBA的一部分，他们不是我们拥有的最高水平的篮球，”立方体说。“那不是真的。NBA只有这么多位置。老实说，我们这些人的篮球智商是NBA大多数球员的10倍。他们也许不能追上沃尔82场比赛，但只要知道如何打球，保持良好的状态，还有什么不喜欢的呢?”

Big3 games have rethe idea of a NBA comeback for a few players

“有些人想保持他们的竞争优势，”Cube说。“有些人觉得他们在联盟中没有做他们应该做的事情。或者没有机会，所以他们觉得自己有东西要证明。”

Josh Childress从Big3转会到了丹佛的训练营。泽维尔·塞拉斯在大联盟效力一段时间后与波士顿凯尔特人队签约。杰森·特里于2018年从NBA退役，并与NBA三巨头签约。

“有了他们现在给的钱，这是显而易见的，”鬼球员前锋贾马尔里奥·穆恩说。“我们很多人的油箱里还有东西。”

31岁的奥登是NBA历史上最失败的球员之一，他将Big3作为最后一杆，在一个2岁半的女儿面前打篮球，她需要YouTube视频才能看到他在俄亥俄州立大学的辉煌岁月。奥登仍然感到疼痛和受伤，这阻碍了他充满希望的职业生涯。他拖着沉重的脚步回到一个临时训练室，那里的面积并不比投票站大多少，他拉开黑色的帘子寻求治疗。奥登揉了揉左膝上的伤疤，向教练抱怨膝盖酸痛，两膝裹在冰袋里走了出来。

“我没有受伤，受伤了。”奥登笑着说。“相信我，我并不是要复兴一项事业。”

Big3的球员每个赛季至少可以赚到10万美元，教练说联盟为他们提供了nba式的旅行和住宿生活方式。

西雅图超音速队前球星、Big3教练加里·佩顿说:“你不能从NBA的辉煌中走下来。”(魔方)就是这么做的。他每天都做。他给你头等舱的机票。有一流的酒店。你不能从那里下去，否则球员们就不会来了。”

佩顿说，他和魔方的关系一直很好，在联盟成立之前他就听说过这个球场。佩顿说，他和库伯的关系非常密切，他声称这句经典台词是他启发的，“这很讽刺，我喝了啤酒，她喝了慢性/湖人击败超音速”，库伯的重磅炸弹“这是美好的一天”。"那是因为我! "他想抓住我，”佩顿笑着说。“那就好。他做到了，伙计。这就是他把西雅图放在那里的原因，因为我们过去经常在洛杉矶击败他们。”

Cube想要给他的球员更多他们在NBA的日子里错过的东西，比如Big3的集锦，作为集锦影片的常规内容，并发布严肃对待球员的游戏故事，而不仅仅是“他们现在在哪里?”

“在一个完美的世界里，三、四、五年内没有人会担心我，”Cube说。“他们只是担心联盟和它在做什么。”

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原标题：

Ice Cube enjoying the good days in third year of Big3

原文：

PHILADELPHIA — Ice Cube and Dakota Johnson were snapped this week in Los Angeles rehearsing for a new movie. Johnson was dressed in a white top, black leather jacket and distressed jeans. Cube? He kept it sports chic: a Raiders hat, dark shades and a Killer 3s T-shirt straight out of the Big3 catalogue.

Whether sitting courtside in Philly or filming in Hollywood, Cube remains the famous face of his 3-on-3 half-court basketball league. Cube is serious about growing the Big3, heavy on nostalgia, into more than just another niche sports league. The rapper/actor and his league of former NBA players have made it to a third season, barnstorming this summer from Birmingham to Brooklyn, shooting 4-pointers in pickup-style games where the first to 50 points wins.

"It's Ice Cube. Everything's going to be big," said Greg Oden, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2007 NBA draft.

Cube is a die-hard Los Angeles Lakers fan, publicly welcoming All-Star Anthony Davis to the team this off-season and expressing his disappointment in Magic Johnson's departure. But hours before NBA free agency was set to formally begin, Cube was at Temple's Liacouras Center getting ready for a Big3 tripleheader, his interest in the million-dollar deals landed by potential future stars of his league dimmed by the Sunday games ahead.

"Nah, I ain't worried about the NBA tonight," Cube said. "I've got my own league to worry about right now."

The Big3 has hit snags like any growing sports league, but it showcases its former slam dunk champs in a national TV deal with CBS , expanded this year from eight teams to 12, hits 18 markets in 11 weeks and dropped the minimum age requirement to 27.

Cube, though, wants the Big3 in Season3 to get, well, bigger.

"We need more interest from mainstream sports media outside of when I'm doing an interview," Cube said. "Having this level of talent, I didn't think it would be as hard as it is to just get national attention on the league. It's being done top class with some of the biggest names to ever play basketball. We've got basketball gods as part of this league. I don't understand, what's not to like?"

At Temple, fans roamed the concourse sipping $10 Big3 Baller Lemonade (Bacardi rum and lemonade) and waiting to pounce from their seats for a photo op of a Hall of Famer like Big3 coach Julius Erving. Some Big3 players might even sit next to fans in the lower bowl — yes, that was former Knicks guard Nate Robinson in a Philadelphia Phillies Bryce Harper jersey leaping out of his seat high-fiving players and fans. And while the star power may not rival the A-listers at a Lakers or Knicks game, Cube sat next to Kentucky coach John Calipari and just a few seats down from fellow rapper/actor LL Cool J in the front row.

Philadelphia basketball icon Sonny Hill turned to league commissioner Clyde Drexler and told him, "Great crowd for no promotion."

That's part of Cube's beef.

The lower bowl was pretty full at Temple and fans stretched to the second level, some there on a 2-for-1 ticket deal, to catch a glimpse of former 76ers Reggie Evans and Jason Richardson, Oden, Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Carlos Boozer. It's no Dream Team, but the collection of past-their-primetime players still put on a show of flashy dunks and extra-long range shooting that reminded fans why they were NBA starters and lottery picks. The half-court game wipes out the big man lumbering down the court playing little defence. When Ricky Davis hit a 3-pointer for Ghost Ballers, he simply turned around and took two steps toward Bivouac's Will Bynum to man up.

TV ratings peaked at about 395,000 a game last year on Fox and the first week of action this year on CBS averaged 900,000 viewers .

"We're close to being in profit," Cube said. "We've still got a little work to do. But the interest is there."

Cube envisions a day when current NBA stars play in the Big3 or some retired greats (think Vince Carter) move straight from NBA retirement into a league that allows hand-checking and is home to the 14-second shot clock.

Cube, and BIG3 co-founder and owner Jeff Kwatinetz , have pushed that their brand of hooping is more than an old-timer's league.

"I think there's a snobbiness to the fact that people think just because these guys are not part of the NBA, they're not the highest level of basketball that we have," Cube said. "That's just not true. The NBA only has so many spots. To be honest, the guys that we've got, the basketball IQ is 10 times better than most players that's in the NBA. They might not be able to chase John Wall 82 games down the court, but as far as knowing how to play the game, being in shape, what's not to like?"

Big3 games have rekindled the idea of an NBA comeback for a handful of players.

"Some guys want to keep their competitive juices going," Cube said. "Some guys feel like they didn't do what they're supposed to in the league. Or didn't have the opportunity to, so they feel like they have something to prove."

Josh Childress went from the Big3 to a training camp contract with Denver. Xavier Silas signed with the Boston Celtics after a stint in the Big3. Jason Terry retired from the NBA in 2018 and signed with the Big3.

"With the money they're giving now, that's a no-brainer," Ghost Ballers forward Jamario Moon said. "A lot of us still have something left in the tank."

Oden, just 31 but one of the biggest busts in NBA history, is using the Big3 as a final shot to have fun playing basketball in front of a 2 1/2-year-old daughter who will need YouTube clips to see his glory days at Ohio State. Oden still feels the aches and injuries that curtailed his promising career. He trudged back to a makeshift training room area not much larger than a voting booth, pulled open a black curtain and sought treatment. Oden rubbed a scar on his left knee and complained of soreness to a trainer, walking out with both knees wrapped in bags of ice.

"I'm not hurting, hurting," Oden said with a smile. "I'm not trying to resurrect a career, believe me."

Big3 players can make at least $100,000 per season and coaches said the league provides them an NBA-type lifestyle in travel and accommodations.

"You can't go down from what the NBA was," former Seattle SuperSonics star and Big3 coach Gary Payton said. "That's what (Cube) did. He made per diem. He gives you first-class flights. There's first-class hotels. You can't go down from that or players don't want to come."

Payton said he's long been tight with Cube and heard the pitch for the league years before its inception. Payton says he's so tight with Cube that he claimed he inspired the classic line, "It's ironic, I had the brew, she had the chronic/The Lakers beat the Supersonics" in Cube's seminal hit "It Was A Good Day."

"That was because of me! He wanted to get at me," Payton said, laughing. "That's good. He did it, man. That's why he put Seattle on there, because we used to beat on LA a lot."

Cube wants to give his players more of what they miss from their NBA days, such as Big3 highlights as a regular staple on highlight reels and published game stories that treat the players seriously and not just as a "where are they now?" curiosity.

"In a perfect world, nobody's worried about me in three, four, five years," Cube said. "They're just worried about the league and what it's doing."

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