By: Jonathan Szczepaniak | Metro | Published July 17, 2024
METRO DETROIT — BIIIIIIIIIIII-GGGGG3 Basketball.
Maybe if the Detroit franchise puts on a strong showing next season, Detroit Pistons’ public address announcer John Mason will carry his famous phrase to the new team.
You heard it right, a new professional basketball franchise is headed to Detroit as GameAbove Sports announced the purchase of the fourth BIG3 basketball franchise on July 8. The BIG3, a professional 3-on-3 basketball league founded by Ice Cube in 2017, plans to switch to a franchise model in 2025 as opposed to its previous stints of traveling around the country with no set home floor. Detroit is the fourth city to be announced for a franchise alongside Miami, Los Angeles and Houston.
BIG 3 currently features 12 teams with various former NBA stars such as Greg Monroe, Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson, Jodie Meeks, Gerald Green, Jason Richardson, and Joe Johnson while also showcasing a legendary staff of coaches such as Rick Mahorn, Rick Barry, Gary Payton, George Gervin and Julius Erving.
The games are formatted in a half-court setting with a 14-second shot clock and an NBA three-point line, and a 4-point zone located 30 feet from the basket. The first team to score 50 or more points wins.
“I am excited to finally announce the sale of our Detroit team to this amazing group of investors, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists,” BIG3 CEO and co-founder Ice Cube said in a press release. “GameAbove Sports and its leadership represent the values of the BIG3 every day and have an exemplary community outreach infrastructure that will take the Young3 initiative to a new level. It’s been a privilege to work with George Gervin over the past few BIG3 seasons and I know what he means to the Detroit and Southeast Michigan community. I look forward to working together with GameAbove Sports to bring the vision of BIG3 Detroit to life next season.”
Leading the charge to bring a franchise to Detroit is an ownership group consisting of numerous Eastern Michigan alumni, including GameAbove Sports founder Keith Stone, former NFL offensive lineman T.J. Lang, NBA Hall of Famer George “The Iceman” Gervin, and former Detroit Tigers minor leaguer and founder of Born in Detroit apparel line Anthony Tomey. Former NBA and EMU guard Earl Boykins will also be involved in the organization
“We’re on a board called GameAbove, and on that board and that whole team we do different things within the city,” Tomey said. “We’ve given $34 million over the last few years between Eastern Michigan, the city of Detroit, and different programs. The leader, Keith (Stone), he decided he wanted to get into more sports and do some investments with that. This was a great opportunity for us, and (he) asked several of us to come on that board and do GameAbove Sports, and it worked out really well. All of us have Detroit roots and then obviously you have ‘The Iceman’ George Gervin and all that, so T.J. (Lang) and myself are running this up top. We’re just really looking forward to bringing the team to the city.”
The franchise is still in the developmental stages of a team name, logo and color schemes, but if it stays true to the rest of the league’s teams, then it will be a creative and fun design like the Ghost Ballers, 3’s Company, and Killer 3’s teams.
“We didn’t even know until just recently that we’re able to name our team, so hopefully we’ll do that,” Tomey said. “We might put it out to the public and see what we can do. We might make it a bracket style. We’ll see. There’s a ton of options we can do. We want to pick the right one.”
It is unclear if Little Caesars Arena will be the home court for the Detroit franchise, but it’s worth noting that the BIG3 did make a stop at LCA in 2018 to showcase the league.
“The entire team at GameAbove and I are thrilled to bring a BIG3 franchise to the Motor City,” Gervin said in a press release. “My experience as part of the BIG3 these past few seasons has shown me that the league is at the forefront of 3-on-3 basketball’s increasing growth and global traction. Detroit’s rich sports history makes it a fantastic market for the BIG3; get ready for next summer!”
Call Staff Writer Jonathan Szczepaniak at (586) 498-1090.