Keep an eye out for six former Indiana Pacers in Ice Cube’s BIG3
By Ben Gibson
A few former Indiana Pacers were taken in the first draft for Ice Cube’s BIG3 league. The season starts on June 25th.
Allen Iverson is the biggest name in the new BIG3 league, but Jermaine O’Neal headlines a group of six former Indiana Pacers that you’ll see on the court.
For the uninitiated, the BIG3 is Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 league that is stocked full of former NBA players that will tour the country this summer. The season gets rolling June 25th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. There are four games every weekend, meaning you’ll see all 8 teams at each event. Fox Sports will air the games.
O’Neal is a captain in the league, while Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington are co-captains on their respective teams. All three were part of the draft on Sunday that filled out the rosters for the league with some lesser known names, which included three more former Pacers.
Jermaine O’Neal’s Tri-state team is co-captained by Bonzi Wells, and the two selected Xavier Silas, Lee Nailon, and Mike James in the draft. Random fact: Somehow, James averaged 20.3 points per a game with the Toronto Raptors during the 2005-06 season. I say somehow because he never averaged more than 11.8 in any other season.
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Stephen Jackson is the co-captain on the Killer 3’s, with Chauncey Billups serving as captain. Never has Jackson’s Captain Jack nickname been more appropriate. The 53-year-old Charles Oakley serves a player coach on a team that drafted Reggie Evans, Larry Hughes, and Brian Cook.
Al Harrington serves as the co-captain to Kenyon Martin on Trilogy, which drafted Rashad McCants, James White, and Dion Glove.
While those former Pacers will be leading their teams, three lesser known ones inhabit the rosters of three other teams in the league.
3’s Company picked up Andre Owens, who was a Pacer in the 2007-08 season. Owens averaged 4 points a game in his 31 appearances.
Ball Hogs picked up Rasual Butler, who played 50 games in Indiana in the 2013-14 season. He averaged 2.7 points a game.
Lastly, Dominic McGurire, who played a total of 12 minutes in a Pacers uniform. In those two games he grabbed two rebounds and gave out an assist while missing his three shooting attempts.
Next: Pacers salary cap situation, free agency possibilities
The BIG3 as a concept sounds amazing. Former NBA players trash talking each other and playing 3-on-3 basketball. We’ve find out if that comes to reality this summer when they take the floor.