Ice Cube is wrapping up his first season of the BIG3, but that doesn’t mean his time in the spotlight is coming to a close. Cube has had a $250 million lawsuit launched against him for allegedly stealing the ideas and players of the Champion Basketball League.
According to the lawsuit, “when certain players expressed their desire to participate in the CBL games, Mr. Cube confronted the players personally about playing in the CBL and threatened the players that they would be fined, not allowed to participate in the 52% of revenues bonus pool, or replaced on their teams. These threats were also shared with the CBL.
“The BIG3 was aware that it signed at least 20 players who also signed contracts with the CBL.”
BIG3 is in its first season of operation, having been able to swing a television deal (with the regular-season games pre-empted) with FOX Sports 1 to broadcast the games. The league featured many well-known former NBA players including Allen Iverson, Charles Oakley, Chauncey Billups, Jermaine O’Neal, along with others, as Ice Cube became the face of the upstart summer league.
In the summer months between the end of the NBA Finals and the start of the NBA regular season, the BIG3 was attempting to fill the void for hardcore hoops fans. The first season may have gone off without major incident, but it’s still to be determined if it was worth it financially.