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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.
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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.
Ice Cube has confirmed reports that he lost an opportunity to make $9 million because he wouldn’t get a COVID-19 vaccine.
In the newest episode of the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast this week, Ice Cube revealed that his refusal to get vaccinated forced him to turn down an acting gig. “I turned down a movie because I didn’t wanna get the motherf—ing jab,” he shared, adding, “I turned down $9 million because I didn’t want to get the jab. F— that jab and f— y’all for trying to make me get it. I don’t know how Hollywood feel about me right now.”
He then clarified, “I didn’t turn [$9 million] down. Them motherf—ers wouldn’t give it to me because I wouldn’t get the shot. I didn’t turn it down. They just didn’t give it to me.”
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Back in October, it was reported that Ice Cube departed Sony’s upcoming comedy Oh Hell No, in which he would’ve co-starred with Jack Black, after declining a request from producers to get vaccinated. Ice Cube and Black partnered on the project in June, and the Sony film was looking to shoot this winter in Hawaii with Kitao Sakurai in the director’s seat. The film has since pushed back its production start.
Watch the full episode of Million Dollaz Worth Of Game featuring Ice Cube below.