Source: Kevin C. Cox / Getty
Ice Cube and his BIG3 basketball league will be the subject of a newly announced documentary series produced by him and a veteran awards producer.
According to reports, the veteran rapper will be producing the not-yet-named documentary series through his Cube Vision production company along with Jesse Collins Entertainment. Described as “Welcome to Wrexham and Cheer meets basketball”, the series will follow one of the teams from the three-on-three basketball league in addition to giving viewers a look at Cube’s path in creating and running a sports league from the ground up.
Dionne Harmon and Madison Merritt also will serve as executive producers on the project with Cube, Kwatinetz, and Collins. Collins is best known for his company’s work in producing awards shows and television specials which include the BET Awards and Black Girls Rock! Jesse Collins Entertainment has a multi-year agreement with ViacomCBS Cable Networks and a first-look film agreement with Paramount Players and Viacom’s other film entities.
The BIG3 first launched in the summer of 2017 after it was first announced by Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz in January of that year. The league would captivate audiences with innovations like the 4-point shot and the inclusion of former NBA stars and legends such as Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Julius “Dr. J” Erving, George “The Iceman” Gervin, Gary Payton, Stephen Jackson, Allen Iverson, and Clyde Drexler as players and coaches. The league also featured women greats such as Lisa Leslie and Nancy Lieberman as coaches. Drexler now serves as the league’s commissioner.
The series also promises to take a look at the league’s $1.2 billion lawsuit against Qatari investors that was filed in 2018. The suit turned into a rollercoaster situation that would see then-CEO Roger Mason Jr. fired and accused of bringing the aforementioned investors in to pay him and other executives while shortchanging the league. Mason would allege he was fired in retaliation for his own lawsuit against BIG3 claiming that Kwatinetz made racial remarks. Another wrinkle occurred when Ice Cube and the BIG3 took out a full-page ad in the New York Times asking then-President Donald Trump and his administration to side with them in their lawsuit. One investor, Ahmed al-Rumaihi, would eventually be given full diplomatic immunity that December.
