The Big 3 basketball league kicks off its third season this summer. Ice Cube’s unique take on professional basketball will feature 12 teams of former NBA and international players. Throughout the nine-week regular season, the league will travel to multiple cities before the year culminates in a two-week playoff tournament.

Let’s take a look at everything else you should know to get prepared for the 2019 Big 3 season.

Big 3 Tournament Schedule 2019

Week one begins on Saturday, June 22 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Over the course of nine weeks, 16 cities will host regular season games. The semi-finals of the playoffs will then take place on August 25 in New Orleans, followed by the September 1 final in Los Angeles at the home of the Lakers and Clippers.

Dates Location Venue
06/22/19 Detroit, IL Little Caesars Arena
06/23/19 Indianapolis, IN Bankers Life Fieldhouse
06/29/19 Charlotte, NC Spectrum Center
06/30/19 Philadelphia, PA Liacouras Center
07/06/19 Birmingham, AL Legacy Arena
07/07/19 Atlanta, GA State Farm Arena
07/13/19 Providence, RI Dunkin’ Donut Center
07/14/19 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center
07/20/19 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
07/21/19 Oklahoma City, OK Chesapeake Energy
07/27/19 Salt Lake City, UT Vivint Smart Home Arena
08/03/19 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
08/04/19 Milwaukee, WI Fiserv Forum
08/10/19 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena
08/17/19 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
08/18/19 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
08/25/19 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
09/01/19 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center

Big 3 Teams 2019

After 2018’s exciting season that resulted in a championship for the Power, four new teams join the league for the 2019 campaign including the Aliens, Bivouac, Enemies, and Triplets.

Here’s a quick look at each team, in order of the 2018 standings (expansion teams are in italics):

1. Power (Key Players: Cuttino Mobley, Glen Davis)
2. 3 Headed Monsters (Key Players: Rashard Lewis, Mario Chalmers)
3. 3’s Company (Key Players: Baron Davis, Drew Gooden)
4. Tri-State (Key Players: Jermaine O’Neal, Amar’e Stoudemire)
5. Trilogy (Key Players: Jason Terry, Carlos Arroyo)
6. Killer 3’s (Key Players: Stephen Jackson, Eddy Curry)
7. Ball Hogs (Key Players: Brian Scalabrine, Josh Childress)
8. Ghost Ballers (Key Players: Mike Bibby, Carlos Boozer)
9. Aliens (Key Players: Greg Oden, Brandon Rush)
10. Bivouac (Key Players: Josh Smith, Will Bynum)
11. Enemies (Key Players (Gilbert Arenas, Lamar Odom)
12. Triplets (Key Players: Joe Johnson, Al Jefferson)

Big 3 Basketball Tickets

Tickets for each day of The Big 3 basketball regular season are available on our SeatGeek page. All tickets are purchased for the single-day event in a specific city, which will feature three games. Don’t forget to use code TBA20BLOG at checkout to save $20 off your purchase of $100 or more! Check out upcoming games below, or view them all here.

What Should You Know About This Year’s Big 3?

Big 3 vastly differs from NBA basketball and there are a few rules you should know before watching this season. For one, all games take place on a half-court that features NBA standard free throw and three-point lines, but the court also features three “four-point zones.” These are represented by circles that are 30 feet away from the basket.

To win, a team has to score 50 or more points and lead by two. Halftime begins after one team scores 25 points. Games usually go pretty quickly, as there’s only a 14-second shot clock, a whole 10 seconds shorter than an NBA clock.

The third year is shaping up to be the Big 3’s best yet and we’ll have the best prices on tickets all throughout the summer.

(Cropped image courtesy of Eric Wong via Flickr. | CC BY-ND 2.0)