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'Alan Anthony is not here': The 2018 BIG3 Combine & Draft
Apr 12, 2018; Los Angeles , CA, USA; Clyde Drexler (left), Ice Cube (center) and Jeff Kwatinetz pose during the BIG3 League draft at at the Fox Sports Studio].  Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

'Alan Anthony is not here': The 2018 BIG3 Combine & Draft

After a successful first season, the slightly-revamped BIG3 is back for another summer of 3-on-3 basketball. They’re keeping the four-point circle, the games still go to 50 points, and Ice Cube is still running the show. This week, they had the player combine and draft in Los Angeles, and I was lucky enough to attend to see legends from the NBA, NCAA, G League, and even Philippine Basketball Association showing their stuff for the Ghost Ballers, Ball Hogs, and the rest of the BIG3 squads.

The league has made a few changes for 2018. The games will be held in NBA arenas this summer – sorry Tulsa, Oklahoma and Lexington, Kentucky. After negative reactions to the games being broadcast two days after they happened in 2017, FS1 is now carrying all the games live on Friday night. Roger Mason Jr. was replaced as commissioner by Clyde Drexler after controversy arose out of lawsuits with mysterious league investors from Qatar (the combine did not clear up any of this mystery). And in an effort to guard against inevitable injuries, as well as recruit higher-profile players, the rosters were expanded to six players, including three co-captains. That means a team like the Killer 3’s goes into the draft with Stephen Jackson, Chauncey Billups, and Metta World Peace (going by Ron Artest in the BIG3) already on the roster. That’s like 60 percent of a Malice in the Palace right there!

By league rules, defending champions Trilogy bring back their entire roster to defend their title, along with new recruit Dahntay Jones to round out the squad and pick up technical fouls. The second place 3-Headed Monsters brought  back Kwame Brown and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, so they were only drafting one player. So the aspiring players at the combine were vying for just 19 draft slots – and judging by the results, there were even fewer than that actually available.

Watching the combine as a non-scout is daunting. It’s hard to tell from the drills and scrimmages who is going to contribute in the actual BIG3, though Nate Robinson was deadly from four-point range (while wearing a Giannis Antetokounmpo T-shirt). Just like an NBA scout before the 2006 Draft, I was blown away by the athleticism and shot-blocking of Tyrus Thomas – and then watching him complain to the referees after every call showed me why he might not get picked. The most important thing seems to be to demonstrate that these players are still in shape, or at least, two months away from being in shape. Two of the combine standouts did get picked – Robert Hite and Corsley Edwards. Stephen Jackson, the coolest man alive, started talking trash during the drills and continued into the scrimmages. In addition, Ball Hogs coach Rick Barry was teaching players to shoot free throws underhand – though he bricked most of his attempts.


Courtesy of Sean Keane

Going into the draft, it was tough to tell what teams were looking for, or even the players themselves. Players really seem to enjoy playing in the BIG3, thanks to the crowds, their friends, and the return to competitive basketball. There are also guys who seem to want redemption for their careers. For the league champs last year, you had McCants, who didn’t get a fair shake in the NBA, Al Harrington and Kenyon Martin, who never won titles, and James “Flight” White, who proved he was more than just a dunker (and he nearly fought Charles Oakley in the season finale). That’s why the most recognizable names – Greg Oden! Chris “Birdman” Anderson! Jonathan Bender! – are also the least predictable (none of them showed at the combine, and only Birdman was drafted). Meanwhile some of the best contributors last year were unglamorous rebounders and screen-setters like Reggie Evans and Ivan Johnson.

They had the draft at the hot take factory that is the FS1 studio, where if you close your eyes and concentrate, you can almost hear Skip Bayless running on a treadmill and muttering about LeBron James. Potential draftees were in a nearby conference room waiting to hear their names, like the green room they have for expected first-round picks at the NFL Draft, only in this case almost everyone in the room is getting snubbed. Smush Parker was sitting front and center, wearing a hat with a Smush Parker logo, because branding is everything, even when your brand is Smush Parker. Players got angrier as the draft went on and their chances diminished. One former NBA player exploded when Bonzi Wells was taken in the third round. “He got drafted in 1998! There’s guys here who went top ten in the last ten years! Why are they making us go on TV when they’re just picking their friends? It only matters who you used to smoke with after games.” Was that directed at Jail Blazer alumnus Jermaine O’Neal?

Before the draft, color analyst/designated heckler Michael Rapaport asked Rick Barry if he’d lost sleep knowing his team’s captain, Brian Scalabrine, was the Ball Hogs’ brain trust. Personable as ever, Barry snapped back that he didn’t have sleep problems, OK? Incidentally, Rapaport thinks David Fizdale should coach the Knicks, and he wants to play Scalabrine if there’s a BIG3 movie. The Ball Hogs used their first pick on last year’s breakout star, Andre Owens, and Barry wore DeShawn Stevenson’s enormous sunglasses to announce the pick. Former D League All Star Game MVP Andre Emmett went second, and the Killer 3’s took Alan Anderson, who was in the NBA as recently as last season. Oak called him “Alan Anthony” when he announced the pick. Power head coach Nancy Lieberman, shattering the glass ceiling, took the Birdman at the No. 4 spot, though he only appeared via phone since his hair isn’t allowed on set.


Courtesy of Sean Keane

The first surprising selection was David Hawkins at No. 5 to Tri State, a pick coach Julius Erving explained as “a Philly thing,” since Hawkins went to Temple. If there’s ever a year to bet on Philadelphia, it’s 2018. The first round ended with a buff Mike Bibby choosing Lee “Press On” Nailon for the Ghost Ballers, probably because of a pre-draft agreement to pass the ball to Ricky Davis on every play. The White Mamba opened the second round taking Edwards, who is like a coach on the floor, because he’s an actual G League coach during the year. Drew Gooden took refrigerator-sized Pistons legend Jason Maxiell number 8, ostensibly to reward him for coming to the combine, and then Stephen Jackson took ESPN co-worker Ryan Hollins at No. 9. Corey Maggette took former teammate Quentin Richardson at 10, and he disappointed the viewing public by not doing that weird head gesture he used to do with Darius Miles. Half of the top ten picks didn’t work out at the combine.

3-Headed Monsters used their only pick on Salim “Damon’s Cousin” Stoudamire, Hite went to Tri State, and the Ghost Ballers brought back 2017 Ghost Baller Marcus Banks, who is excellent at defense and letting Ricky Davis shoot. For the third round, the BIG3 took a page from the NBA and let Drexler and the BIG3 co-founder announce picks, which included BIG3 vets Derrick Byars, Mike James, and Bonzi Wells, Bonzi was interesting because he withdrew as team captain because of a heart condition, but apparently he got cleared to play because his old team just drafted him anyway. The last pick – Mr. Extremely Irrelevant – was Mario West.

It’s hard to know what to expect from these teams, who skewed older and slower than I’d anticipated. But it’s also hard to know what makes an ideal BIG3 player. Certainly some of the most talented players weren’t drafted, but then again, I think the casual BIG3 fan would rather see an out-of-shape Bonzi Wells than an ultra-fit Xavier Silas. Silas was good enough to play for the Boston Celtics a few months ago, but not good enough to get drafted by the BIG3.

Despite the league’s stated emphasis on competition and the seriousness the coaches and players bring to the games, the BIG3 is much closer to a an Old-Timers Game than it is to the G League. And when the league focuses on recruiting famous players – many of whom have great careers after basketball – those players are going to want to play with their buddies. The other factor is that teams have three co-captains, and this is 3-on-3 ball, so the teams are mostly drafting reserves. The sixth man for a BIG3 team isn’t going to see a lot of court time, so why not pick a dude you used to smoke with?

All in all, it’s a fun event, and built as much anticipation as you could expect for competitive 3-on-3. My one concern is that part of the BIG3’s appeal was the barnstorming nature of showing up at a town for a full day, a sports league that was also a leisurely Sunday activity. I worry that in trying to get more professional, the BIG3 might lose some of its wacky, ramshackle charm. But until then, watch out for the Killer 3’s. Stack Jack isn’t messing around.

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