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New Big 3 Season Has Wild Start With Former NBA Players Crashing Out Everywhere
Ice Cube's Big3 basketball league returned this weekend with all eight teams playing at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. All four games were close and a couple of them got pretty heated with some big name former NBA players involved in behavior that would have been frowned upon by their former employers.
Dwight Howard and Lance Stephenson made their Big3 debuts in a game between the Miami 305 and the LA Riot. While Michael Beasley appeared to be the main Howard anagonist throughout the game, Howard and Stephenson eventually got into a wrestling match that saw them crash into the stands and get ejected.
When Dwight Howard said “don’t do that sh*t” before fighting Lance Stephenson👀
— LegendZ (@legendz_prod) June 15, 2025
It started with Dwight throwing elbows. Beasley got him back, saying: “You’re gonna take it, n****”
Dwight replied with: “That sh*t don’t bother me”
Lance had enough, and it got physical. pic.twitter.com/YWdO44u47M
Michael Beasley welcomed Dwight Howard into The BIG3 by taunting him all night 👀
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) June 15, 2025
(Via @NBABuzzMikey, h/t @CourtsideBuzzX) pic.twitter.com/b14uol4iJm
Oh, and Jordan Crawford stuck his finger in Lance Stephenson's nose.
Jordan Crawford stuck his finger in Lance Stephenson’s nose in the BIG3 pic.twitter.com/akIjXGmIbq
— David Astramskas (@redapples) June 14, 2025
In other Big3 action, the Houston Rig Hands beat the DMV Trilogy 50–46. At the conclusion of that game DMV coach Stephen Jackson aggressively pursued former G Leaguer Jaylen Johnson.
Stephen Jackson was about to get into a fight with Jaylen Johnson at Big 3 Basketball after his team lost 👀 pic.twitter.com/u8otJaRszn
— RashticReport (@RashticReport) June 14, 2025
Video of Jackson behind the scenes following that incident showed he was still quite upset as he referenced previous meetings with opposing players back at the hotel. You can watch that NSFW video here.
The Big3 and all the players and coaches will reconvene in Baltimore next weekend for the second week of the season.
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Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.