Basketball
Page: 2
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Monica Morgan / Getty
The BIG3 basketball league founded by Ice Cube is putting down roots as it expands with home teams in Miami and Houston.
As the seventh season of the BIG3 three-on-three basketball league featuring former NBA, collegiate and international players created by Ice Cube is underway, it’s expanding to include two new teams in a traditional city-based format. The 12-team league usually plays in a barnstorming format during the summer – last season, the league played games in Chicago, Dallas, Brooklyn, Memphis, Miami, Boston, Charlotte and Detroit. Miami is one of three cities that will have a dedicated team, along with the cities of Houston and Los Angeles.
Houston’s BIG3 franchise was announced in a post on Instagram Thursday (July 4). Energy executives Eric Mullins and Milton Carroll were named as owners of the franchise. The news comes weeks after an investor group led by hospitality executive Heath Freeman secured their franchise in Miami for $10 million. The first city-based franchise will be in Los Angeles after a deal was struck with the DCB Sports investor group for $10 million. All three franchises are set to begin play next season. Ice Cube spoke about the move in a post on Instagram when the Los Angeles deal was announced in May, writing: “We need to plant our roots in cities so we can be more than a rolling all-star game coming through. It’s really about growing the sport and the league.”
“We can plant our roots in these cities,” the “Jackin For Beats” rapper stated about the moves in an interview with the Athletic. “It is great to come through with, like, a rolling All-Star event, but if you want to really unlock the fan-base potential, connecting to cities does that.” BIG3 co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz agreed with the veteran rapper’s position in the same interview. “We do things in the cities when we go there,” he said. “We do the Young 3 and try to get involved with a lot of youth organizations and charities. The truth is that you can only do so much, you know, dropping in a city for four days than you can if you have a team rooted in the city.” The move is the latest from the league, coming after the extension of an offer to women’s college basketball phenom and current Indiana Fever player Caitlin Clark to sign with the league for $5 million instead of going to the WNBA.
Ice Cube‘s popular three-on-three basketball league, BIG3, is setting down roots. Since its founding in 2017, the 12-team league featuring former NBA and international players has barnstormed around the country setting up shop in cities and playing a series of games, with last year’s contests rolling into Chicago, Dallas, Brooklyn, Memphis, Miami, Boston, Charlotte and Detroit.
In May, BIG3 CEO Cube announced the plans to pivot to a more traditional city-based model, writing on Instagram, “We need to plant our roots in cities so we can be more than a rolling all-star game coming through. It’s really about growing the sport and the league.” The league sold its first franchise in Los Angeles in May for $10 million to a group of investors led by DCB Sports.
In June the league welcomed a Miami franchise (also to the tune of $10 million) and on Thursday (July 4), the BIG3 announced that businessmen Eric Mullins and Milton Carroll had purchase the rights to a team in Houston. Those three teams will join a group of colorfully named squads including the Ghost Ballers, 3 Headed Monsters, 3’s Company, Aliens, Ball Hogs, Bivouac, Enemies, Killer 3s, Power, Tri-State, Trilogy and Triplets.
Trending on Billboard
The BIG3’s 2024 season marches on this weekend, with six games scheduled for Sunday (July 7) in Newark, N.J. at the Prudential Center, followed by weekend contests in Anaheim (July 14), Portland (July 20), Cincinnati (July 28), San Antonio (August 4), Nashville (August 11) and Boston (August 18). In March, Cube offered college superstar Caitlin Clark $5 million to join the BIG3, though she opted to sign a four-year contract with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever that was reportedly worth $338,000.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Alfonso Cannavacciuolo / Getty
At the young age of 34-years-old, former NBA All-Star and college basketball legend Kemba Walker is calling it a pro-basketball career.
On Tuesda (June 2), the Bronx-born phenom announced that he was officially walking away from the game in a heartfelt social media post in which he thanked God, his fans and the game for changing his life. After getting drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats in 2011 with the ninth overall pick, Kemba Walker went on to have a respectable career averaging 19.3 points per game over his 12-year NBA career.
Unfortunately, injuries derailed his true potential and Kemba found himself bouncing around from team to team over the last few years of his career playing with the Boston Celtics (2019-20), the New York Knicks (2021-22) and the Dallas Mavericks (2022-2023). Sadly, all of his multi-city stints were injury ridden.
Still, the man is a legend in his own right having led his UConn basketball team to the college title in 2011 and being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in the process.
Not one to look on the negative side of things, Walker says though he’s done playing basketball, he’s looking forward to what the future holds for him writing, “Basketball will forever be a part of my life so this isn’t goodbye. I’m excited for what’s next.”
Good luck and Godspeed, homie!
Hoops star Jayson Tatum reached the apex of the basketball world when capturing his first NBA championship with his Boston Celtics defeating the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 on Monday night (June 17). Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news After all the champagne and cigars ran dry at the […]
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Jason Howard/Bauer-Griffin / Getty
Serena Williams praised Caitlin Clark’s approach to dealing with the pressures of being in the WNBA, including the press attention.
As Caitlin Clark’s rookie season in the WNBA has progressed this summer, she’s gotten a heaping amount of scrutiny from the press and has been the subject of social media squabbles. Tennis great Serena Williams can sympathize, and she expressed that sentiment while at the Tribeca Film Festival last Thursday (June 13). Williams, who was present for the premiere of the ESPN+ documentary series, In The Arena: Serena Williams, praised Clark for her poise so far and referenced her own experiences.
“I just love that she tries to stay grounded. She said that she doesn’t look at her social [media],” Williams said. “I get it. I don’t look at it either. It’s so important to continue to do what she’s doing. No matter what other people do, if people are negative, it’s because they can’t do what you do, basically. Hopefully, she’ll continue to do what she’s doing.” Clark has been the subject of heavy conversation during her rookie season with the Indiana Fever, especially as news broke that she wasn’t named to the senior women’s national basketball team.
“I was bullied. Things that I had to go through, people would be canceled for saying now,” Williams continued, referring to the intense media attention she and her sister Venus Williams received as they began their careers as adolescents. “My position in growing up, as a teenager, I kind of had to be guarded to kind of stay sane. Just [getting] so much press and doing everything I was doing and traveling the globe every year. It was every week. It was a grind.”
The 23-time Grand Slam champion has previously talked about her interest in WNBA ownership. Serena Williams is already part of the ownership group of Angel City FC of the NWSL. “I absolutely would be (interested). With the right market, I would definitely be super interested in that,” Williams said in an interview with CNN. As for Caitlin Clark, she has recently been more adamant about those using her name to demean other WNBA players. “People should not be using my name to push those agendas. It’s disappointing. It’s not acceptable,” she said Thursday to the press. “Treating every single woman in this league with the same amount of respect, I think, it’s just a basic human thing that everybody should do.”
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić has a history of complaining to the refs, and apparently, Brian Windhorst has had enough.
On Wednesday (June 12), after Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the basketball journalist made an appearance on SportsCenter With Scott Van Pelt.
After he was asked to respond to Dončić fouling out with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, Windy eviscerated the Slovenian superstar for his decision to not only draw a foul in that moment, but to also complain about the call.
His rant was so epic and so out of character for the usually subdued reporter, fans decided to make a meme out of it by setting the “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us” beats behind his vocals. Watch:
Here’s Windhorst’s full rant:
I thought it was perfect that Luka fell onto the ground there in an unacceptable position to put himself in with four minutes left with five fouls and then immediately looks at the bench and says, ‘You better bleeping challenge it,’ as if it’s the bench’s fault that he just made a terrible play. I’m standing here in the Mavericks’ tunnel. Over there is the Celtics’ tunnel. That’s where the winners are.
Trending on Billboard
If Luka’s ever gonna be a winner coming out of this tunnel here, he is gonna have to use what’s happened in this Finals as a learning experience. His defensive performance is unacceptable. He is a hole on the court. The Celtics are attacking him. They are ahead in this series because they have attacked him defensively; and you’ve got a situation here where Luka’s complaining about the officiating. They have begged him; they have talked with him; they have pleaded with him. He is costing his team because of how he treats the officials.
He’s a brilliant player, he does so many things well. They are here because of how he did. His performance in this game is unacceptable and the reason why the Mavericks are not gonna win. He’s got to get over this, and the fact that he came out after the game and blamed the officials showed me he’s nowhere close yet.
So maybe over the summer, somebody will get to him because nobody with the Mavericks or anybody else in his life has, and that’s where the Mavericks are at this point. They’re never gonna get to this tunnel with the trophy if he doesn’t improve those aspects of his game.
Luka — who’s only 25 years old and playing in the Finals for the first time — had 27 points, six boards and six dimes, but it wasn’t enough as his team is now starting down the barrel of a 3-0 deficit to the Boston Celtics.
No team in NBA history has yet to come back from being down three games to none in the playoffs.
Here’s a bonus fancam of Windy with 50’s “Many Men” as the soundtrack.
It’s a beautiful thing when NBA and Rap Twitter connect like this.
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: C. Morgan Engel / Getty / Minnesota Timberwolves
The Denver Nuggets blew a golden opportunity and are now thinking about Cancun after the Minnesota Timberwolves ended their title defense run.
It took a historic 20-point comeback from the Minnesota Timberwolves over the Denver Nuggets to punch their ticket into the Western Conference Finals to play the Dallas Mavericks.
The Timberwolves’ Game 7 victory at Ball Arena in Denver was the punctuation mark on a story that began last year in a local bar that ESPN highlighted in a story.
Per ESPN:
The Timberwolves had just lost to the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs in April 2023, with Anthony Edwards’ potential game-tying 3 coming up empty as time expired in Game 5. Afterward, Edwards and a couple of teammates went to a cocktail lounge, Forget Me Not, in the Cherry Creek neighborhood, with their chartered flight back home not scheduled to leave until the next morning.
Of all of the gin joints in all of the towns in all of the world, Denver point guard Jamal Murray — fresh off a 35-point showing in the closeout game — just so happened to walk into the same bar as the Timberwolves.
And Edwards, a budding star yet to have the breakout postseason that has turned him into a bona fide superstar this spring, had a message to deliver to Murray.
“He was talking s—,” Edwards told ESPN as he walked down the ramp toward the team bus after his club’s 98-90 victory on Sunday. “He was telling Mike [Conley], ‘I’m sick of you, you can’t guard me,’ and all that.
“I told him, ‘We’ll be back. You’ll see us again when we’re fully loaded.’”
A Historic Night For The Timberwolves & Nuggets
Anthony Edwards’ words turned out to be prophetic.
He and his Timberwolves erased a 20-point third-quarter deficit, completing one of the largest comebacks in Game 7 history in the past 25 NBA postseasons.
The Nuggets also made history, becoming the first team in NBA history to lead by 15 points or more at halftime and lose a Game 7 playoff game. They also became the fifth consecutive defending NBA champions not even to sniff the conference finals.
Speaking on his squad’s herculean effort, Ant-Man told reporters, “It shows who we are. Once we really lock in on the defensive end, man, we’re a hell of a team to beat.”
Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns, who is usually the butt of the jokes when they can’t clown Rudy Gobert, came up big for his team.
The team’s No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft kept his team in the game by scoring 23 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, and a blocked shot.
Kat was also effective when defending three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic.
His head coach, Chris Finch, had glowing words about Towns. “I think you see how at peace and happy he is right now,” Finch said. “He had to trust that he was never going to be marginalized. All young players always think they can do it all by themselves, but in this league, nobody can.”
“I couldn’t be more happy and proud for him. Just because I think he’s faced a lot of unfair criticism when it comes to the postseason at times.”
Of course, the reactions to the Nuggets choking were on point. You can see those in the gallery below.
1. Brilliant tweet
2. Gotta love the Joker’s even in defeat
3. What is wrong with y’all? LOL
4. The accuracy
5. Ant-Man is a legend
6. Howling
8. Draymond was LOUD and WRONG
10. Man on a mission
11. LOL @ A-Rod
13.
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty / LeBron James / Bronny James
Bronny James’ name has yet to be called during the 2024 NBA Draft, but the chatter around LeBron James’ son, where he will land, and if the Lakers superstar will join the team that takes a chance on his seed is deafening.
Word around the NBA streets was that LeBron James was very gung-ho about playing alongside his son in the league, giving many teams the impression that if they draft Bronny, they could land LBJ in free agency.
According to reports, teams shouldn’t bet on that because Bron Bron has no desire to ditch the Los Angeles Lakers to hoop with his son.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports that James is telling teams not named the Lakers who believe their chances to sign him in free agency will increase if they draft Bronny “No, as of right now,” regarding leaving Los Angeles.
Yahoo! Sports reports the “as of right now” in his statement leaves enough wiggle room for teams to continue to continue working on a situation that would pique his interest.
Interest in Bronny James increased following his strong showing at the NBA Draft, and some people believe he could be drafted in the second round.
LeBron James Did Express In The Past He Wanted To Play With Bronny In His Final Season
Regardless of the chatter around Bronny James, the Los Angeles Lakers are still the front runners to resign James, who has a $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 season, if they land a head coach LeBron James approves of and a third piece to compliment him and Anthony Davis.
LBJ’s new alleged stance on playing alongside his son starkly differs from his past comments.
He made his desire to play his final season as a teammate with Bronny, even saying he would sign with the team that drafts his son.
That changed after the Lakers were bounced out of the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets, with James telling people hooping with Bronny was no longer a priority for him.
As for Bronny James, a conversation is happening now that he doesn’t deserve the attention he is receiving. Some people believe the spotlight is on him because he is the son of arguably the greatest professional hooper not named Michael Jordan.
ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins has been very loud on the matter.
Now, Bronny knows that carrying the James torch is the main topic of discussion, but the young hooper has made it clear he doesn’t want anything handed to him because he is the son of LeBron James and wants people to judge him on his skills and what he does on the court.
“Everything that follows my dad, people just try to link me with that and all the greatness he’s achieved and I haven’t done anything yet,” Bronny told reporters. “So there needs to be that divide between Bronny and LeBron. I just want to let people know that my name is Bronny James and not being identified as LeBron James’ son.”
We hear you Bronny.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
1. Draymond Green is a believer in Bronny James
2. Interesting
3. Fair question
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
It all comes down to this.
After a back-and-forth series between two of the NBA‘s most exciting teams, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets head to Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal.
Game 7 between the Timberwolves vs. Nuggets takes place tonight, Sunday, May 19 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT live from Ball Arena in Denver. Last-minute tickets to watch the Timberwolves and Nuggets Game 7 matchup are still available on sites like Stubhub, Vivid Seats and SeatGeek, with instant digital delivery.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
How to Watch Nuggets vs. Timberwolves Game 7 on TV
Watch to watch the Nuggets vs. Timberwolves game on TV? The NBA playoff game is airing live on TNT, which you can access on any basic cable package.
How to Watch Nuggets vs. Timberwolves Game 7 Online
Don’t have cable? You can watch the Nuggets vs. Timberwolves online through Max (formerly HBO Max), which is carrying a live feed of the NBA playoff game that you can stream here. Max subscribers can livestream the Timberwolves-Nuggets game online for free, using their TV, phone, tablet or computer. Not a subscriber? Get Max for just $9.99 here.
Trending on Billboard
You can also watch the Timberwolves vs. Nuggets on TNT without cable through one of Sling TV‘s streaming packages, currently discounted to $30 (regularly $40 a month). There are three package plans to choose from: Orange, Blue and Orange + Blue with every option including the TNT channel .
How to Stream Nuggets vs. Timberwolves Game 7 Online Free
Want to stream the Nuggets vs. Timberwolves game online for free? You can find a live TNT feed on DirecTV Stream, a streaming service that lets you watch live TV through the Internet. What’s more: DirecTV Stream has a 5-day free trial that you can use to watch Game 7 online free.
The Timberwolves forced a Game 7 after a decisive 45-point victory Thursday over the reigning NBA champ Nuggets (who beat LeBron James and Lakers in the previous round). The Wolves will be relying on star Anthony Edwards tonight in one last attempt to oust Nikola Jokic and Nuggets and advance to the Conference Finals.
With an upcoming album titled Hit Me Hard and Soft, you’d think that Billie Eilish would favor contact sports over basketball. Regardless, the pop star spent one of the last days before her third studio LP arrives enjoying a game of hoops at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday (May 14), sitting courtside amongst several other stars.
The pop star was present at Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round Playoffs to watch the New York Knicks face off against the Indiana Pacers, rocking a plaid shirt, shorts and cap combo in a front-row seat next to Jennifer Hudson. The “Spotlight” vocalist’s rumored partner, rapper Common, sat on Hudson’s other side.
Also in attendance were stars such as Chris Rock, Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, Billy Crystal and Nicholas Braun. The game ended with the Knicks taking a 3-2 series lead over the Pacers, winning 121-91.
Trending on Billboard
The event comes just two days ahead of the release of Hit Me Hard and Soft, a 10-track set produced by Eilish’s brother and frequent collaborator, Finneas. While in New York, the “What Was I Made For?” artist will hold an album listening party at Barclays Center in Brooklyn Wednesday (May 15) before doing the same in Los Angeles the next day.
For those who couldn’t snag free tickets to either event, Eilish will also release a listening experience for Hit Me Hard and Soft across AMC Theatres with Dolby Atmos offerings in the U.S. The showings will only be available for two days starting May 16, and tickets will cost $5.
Aside from a couple sneak peeks here and there — including a snippet of the song “Birds of a Feather” in a newly shared teaser for Netflix’s Heartstopper — the nine-time Grammy winner has largely kept details about her new project on lock leading up to its release on Friday (May 17). She told fans from the jump that she wouldn’t be releasing any singles ahead of time, noting in her initial album announcement, “i wanna give it to you all at once.”
“I feel like this album is me,” she told Rolling Stone in April. “It’s not a character. It feels like the When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? version of me. It feels like my youth and who I was as a kid.”