The 2017 season was the inaugural BIG3 season. The regular season began on June 25, 2017 and ended on August 13, 2017. On August 26, 2017, Trilogy defeated the 3 Headed Monsters 51–46 in the BIG3 Championship game, completing a perfect (10–0) season.
Venues Week Date(s) Venue City Notes 1 June 25, 2017 Barclays Center Brooklyn, New York Inaugural venueAttendance: 15,177 2 July 2, 2017 Spectrum Center Charlotte, North Carolina Regular seasonAttendance: 10,651 3 July 9, 2017 BOK Center Tulsa, Oklahoma Regular seasonAttendance: 10,000+ 4 July 16, 2017 Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Regular seasonAttendance: 12,435 5 July 23, 2017 UIC Pavilion Chicago, Illinois Regular seasonAttendance: 9,044 6 July 30, 2017 American Airlines Center Dallas, Texas Regular seasonAttendance: 15,000+ 7 August 6, 2017 Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky Regular seasonAttendance: 8,009 8 August 13, 2017 Staples Center Los Angeles, California Regular seasonAttendance: 10,288 9 August 20, 2017 KeyArena Seattle, Washington PlayoffsAttendance: 8,583 10 August 26, 2017 MGM Grand Garden ArenaOriginally, the final was scheduled for the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas: however, the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor boxing match was later announced at the same date and venue. Promoters and MGM Resorts International, who owns both arenas, reached a compromise to move the Big3 final to the Grand Garden Arena. Las Vegas, Nevada Championship game
Draft The inaugural BIG3 draft was held on April 30, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Twenty-four players were selected across three rounds.
Player selections Pick Player Team NBA experience Last team Last played 1 Rashad McCants Trilogy 5 years Cañeros del Este 2015 2 Andre Owens 3's Company 2 years BC Hallmann Vienna 2015 3 Reggie Evans Killer 3s 14 years Sacramento Kings 2015 4 Xavier Silas Tri-State 1 year Northern Arizona Suns Active 5 Kwame Brown 3 Headed Monsters 12 years Philadelphia 76ers 2013 6 Jerome Williams Power 7 years New York Knicks 2005 7 Derrick Byars Ball Hogs 1 year Delaware 87ers Active 8 Maurice Evans Ghost Ballers 9 years Washington Wizards 2012 9 Marcus Banks Ghost Ballers 8 years SLUC Nancy Basket 2014 10 Rasual Butler Ball Hogs 13 years San Antonio Spurs 2016 11 DeShawn Stevenson Power 13 years Atlanta Hawks 2013 12 Eddie Basden 3 Headed Monsters 1 year Franca Basquetebol Clube 2014 13 Lee Nailon Tri-State 6 years Panteras de Aguascalientes 2014 14 Larry Hughes Killer 3s 13 years Orlando Magic 2012 15 Mike Sweetney 3's Company 4 years Urunday Universitario Active 16 James White Trilogy 3 years Petrochimi Bandar Imam BC Active 17 Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf 3 Headed Monsters 9 years Kyoto Hannaryz 2011 18 Dominic McGuire Ball Hogs 6 years Leones de Ponce 2016 19 Dion Glover Trilogy 6 years Gaiteros del Zulia 2007 20 Moochie Norris Power 9 years Yakima Sun Kings 2008 21 Ruben Patterson 3's Company 10 years Champville SC 2009 22 Ivan Johnson Ghost Ballers 2 years Reales de La Vega 2016 23 Mike James Tri-State 12 years Texas Legends 2015 24 Brian Cook Killer 3s 9 years Chiba Jets Active NOTES
Regular season
Week 1 (Brooklyn, NY) The inaugural week of games in the Big3 Basketball League took place at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York. It featured four 3x3 basketball games. The winner of each game was determined by the first team to reach 60-points, such that when they reached 60 or more points they led by 2 points or more, half time occurs when one team reached 30 or more points. If a team reaches 60 or more points without leading by 2, the game enters "overtime" and continues until one team leads the other by 2 or more points. During this week, the inaugural game went to overtime.
Game 1Ghost Ballers 60–62 3 Headed MonstersGame 2Tri-State 58–62 PowerGame 33's Company 61–51 Ball HogsGame 4Killer 3's 45–60 Trilogy
Week 2 (Charlotte, NC) The second week of games in the Big3 Basketball League took place at the Spectrum Center, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The winner of each game was determined by the first team to reach 50-points, such that when they score 50 or more points and they lead by 2 points. Half time occurs when one team reached 25 or more points. The 50-point goal has been kept in place after the 60-point goal made the games a little too lengthy. Game 1Ball Hogs 50–44 Tri-StateGame 2Trilogy 50–37 3 Headed MonstersGame 3Power 50–45 Killer 3'sGame 43's Company 45–50 Ghost Ballers
Week 3 (Tulsa, OK) The third week of games in the Big3 Basketball League took place at the BOK Center, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Game 1Power 32–50 3 Headed MonstersGame 2Killer 3's 51–44 Tri-StateGame 3Ball Hogs 45–50 Ghost BallersGame 4Trilogy 50–42 3's Company
Week 4 (Philadelphia, PA) The fourth week of games in the Big3 Basketball League took place at the Wells Fargo Center, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Game 1Ghost Ballers 44–51 PowerGame 2Trilogy 50–43 Ball HogsGame 3Killer 3's 46–51 3 Headed MonstersGame 43's Company 44–51 Tri-State
Week 5 (Chicago, IL) The fifth week of games in the Big3 Basketball League took place at the UIC Pavilion, in Chicago, Illinois. Trilogy clinched a playoff berth with a win over Tri-State. Game 1Ball Hogs 34–51 PowerGame 2Tri-State 34–51 TrilogyGame 33's Company 32–51 3 Headed MonstersGame 4Killer 3's 46–50 Ghost Ballers
Week 6 (Dallas, TX) The sixth week of games in the Big3 Basketball League took place at the American Airlines Center, in Dallas, Texas. 3 Headed Monsters clinched a playoff berth with a win over Tri-State. Game 1Killer 3's 50–40 Ball HogsGame 2Tri-State 45–50 3 Headed MonstersGame 3Trilogy 51–36 Ghost BallersGame 43's Company 53–49 Power
Week 7 (Lexington, KY) The seventh week of games in the Big3 Basketball League took place at Rupp Arena, in Lexington, Kentucky. Game 1Ball Hogs 34–50 3 Headed MonstersGame 2Killer 3's 48–51 3's CompanyGame 3Trilogy 50–45 PowerGame 4Tri-State 51–43 Ghost Ballers
Week 8 (Los Angeles, CA) In a repeat of the first weeks games, the eighth and final week of games in the Big3 Basketball League took place at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California. The Ghost Ballers and Power clinch playoff berths as the last two in, eliminating 3's Company due to a loss to the Ball Hogs. Game 1Tri-State 51–42 PowerGame 2Killer 3's 41-50 TrilogyGame 33's Company 47–50 Ball HogsGame 4Ghost Ballers 50–33 3 Headed Monsters
Standings # Team W L Pct. 1 YZ Trilogy 8 0 1.000 412 323 8 2 Y 3 Headed Monsters 6 2 .750 384 349 8 3 Y Power 4 4 .500 382 385 8 4 Y Ghost Ballers 4 4 .500 383 384 8 5 3's Company 3 5 .375 375 400 8 6 Tri-State 3 5 .375 378 393 8 7 Ball Hogs 2 6 .250 347 403 8 8 Killer 3's 2 6 .250 372 396 8 Notes Z clinched top seed Y clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
Week 9 (Seattle, WA) The first post-season games took place in Key Arena, in Seattle, Washington. 3 Headed Monsters, Power, Trilogy and Ghost Ballers competed in two semifinal playoff matchups, to determine who would advance to the championship game.. The Killer 3's, Ball Hogs, 3's Company, and Tri-State played in two games which determined the lower positions, but did not officially count in the standings. Game 1Killer 3's 46–52 Ball HogsGame 23's Company 51–48 Tri-StateGame 3 (Semifinal)3 Headed Monsters 50–46 PowerGame 4 (Semifinal)Trilogy 50–39 Ghost Ballers
Week 10 (Las Vegas, NV) The league's inaugural championship game was hosted at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. A consolation game was also played between the two teams eliminated in the previous week's semifinals. Game 1 (consolation)Power 39–52 Ghost BallersGame 2 (Championship)Trilogy 51–46 3 Headed Monsters
Bracket
Individual statistic leaders Category Player Team Statistic Points per game Stephen Jackson Killer 3's 21.6 Rebounds per game Reggie Evans Killer 3's 10.1 Steals per game Andre Owens 3's Company 1.0 Blocks per game Dermarr Johnson 3's Company 0.8 FG% Kwame Brown 3 Headed Monsters 63%
Awards The league's players voted for the inaugural BIG3 awards, which were announced prior to the championship game.
Most Valuable Player: Rashard Lewis (3 Headed Monsters) Coach of the Year: Rick Mahorn (Trilogy) Player Captain of the Year: Kenyon Martin (Trilogy) Defensive Player of the Year: James White (Trilogy) 4th Man: Al Thornton (3’s Company) Too Hard to Guard: Al Harrington (Trilogy) Best Trash Talker: Stephen Jackson (Killer 3s) Best Dressed: Cuttino Mobley (Power)
Allen Iverson controversy Allen Iverson's return was highly publicized when Big3 came to Philadelphia. Before the game, Iverson said, "I'm not going to go out there and be the 25-year-old Allen Iverson—you're going to see a 42-year-old man out there, but to be able to do that, for my fans, I thought that would be cool, just to get back out there again [...] for my fans to get that flashback." However, hours before the game, it was announced Iverson would not be playing. Iverson claimed that he did not play due to "advice from my doctor." Iverson's decision was frowned upon by many in the Philadelphia community.
On Sunday, July 30, the Big3 was scheduled to have games being played in Dallas, Texas. Iverson was slated to appear for his team, 3's Company, but failed to show up to the event or notify league officials about his decision. The next day, TMZ Sports posted pictures showing Iverson at a Chicago Area casino on the morning of the scheduled game.
References