BIG3 basketball league holds open tryouts in Phoenix before fifth season

Ian Garcia, Arizona Republic

March 20, 2022 at 1:01 PM·4 min read

Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball league held its third open tryout date Saturday as players competed for an all-expenses-paid trip to the BIG3 Combine in Las Vegas.

After stops in Dallas and Washington, the BIG3 made its way to Victorium in Scottsdale to evaluate some of the best players in the West. Players showcased their skills in front of league representatives, including BIG3 Director of Basketball Operations Thomas Scott and Arizona Wildcats legend Mike Bibby, one of the league's inaugural team captains in 2017.

“This is a free chance to go out there and show your game to be able to play on TV, play against pros and be able to make some good money doing it,” Bibby said.

Following the league’s first-ever tryouts in Dallas and Washington last year, four of the 10 players selected to participate in the combine saw action throughout the BIG3 regular season. Devin Sweetney, who attended the Washington tryout, joined Trilogy in the middle of the season and won the 2021 BIG3 Championship.

With this year’s tryouts expanded to Phoenix and Chicago, Victor Evans and Mesa native Jaron Hopkins beat out 14 other players to punch their tickets to the BIG3 Combine on May 14.

“Throughout the day, they were consistent with the way they played,” said Dion Glover, a former NBA player and 2017 BIG3 champion. “They scored the basketball, they defended and played the right way. We don’t want a guy just shooting the ball every time. We want to see if they can pass, cut and make a play for somebody else. We thought those two guys did just that.”

Evans was pushed to try out by 2018 BIG3 champion and MVP Corey Maggette, a good friend and mentor of his. Evans originally flew from Los Angeles to attend the Dallas tryout on March 4 but did not make the cut. Wanting another shot at making the league, he took the shorter flight to Phoenix and is now one step closer to fulfilling his goal.

Mar 19, 2022; Scottsdale, AZ, United States; Mike Bibby walks the sidelines while athletes warmup for the BIG3 tryouts at Victorium.

The BIG3 is full of Hall of Famers, former All-Stars and NBA champions, which can be intimidating for prospective players. However, with his experience playing against top pros in the Drew League in Los Angeles and guidance from Maggette, a 14-year NBA veteran, Evans is up for the challenge.

Regardless of experience, players invited to the combine will have to prepare for the BIG3’s unique style of play, which was on display Saturday.

“Guys are hand-checking, throwing some elbows in the post and hooking on offense, so it’s an adjustment,” Hopkins said. “I’ve been playing in Europe, and it’s not really like that out there. They call a lot of ticky-tacks and intentional fouls. It’s physical out here, so you’ve got to play strong or you don’t belong.”

One of the league’s most intriguing aspects is how it encourages players to be themselves on the court, leading to games that are gritty and unfiltered.

“You’ve got to talk a little trash and be able to be physical,” Bibby said. “It’s not like NBA basketball where you go out there and anything is a foul. They let you play, so it’s like park ball. People talk trash out there, and it’s welcomed. You’re not going to get a technical for talking trash. That’s what people want to see.”

Now entering its fifth season, the BIG3 continues to prove it isn't some sort of novelty act built on nostalgia. The league is exhausting every option to find the best talent available by going younger and recruiting international players as it continues to stake its claim as one of the world’s premier basketball leagues.

“The players and coaches make this thing really go,” Scott said. “I feel like it can go as far as the people we have involved want to take it and continue to want to be involved. As long as we can continue to get high-level players, continue to keep our stars that we have and the fans continue to embrace this beautiful league that we have, the sky's the limit.”

The BIG3's final tryout date is scheduled for April 9 in Chicago.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: BIG3 basketball league holds tryouts in Phoenix before fifth season

NBC News
Soggy Thanksgiving possible, with rain and snow in forecast for busy travel week
Forecasters are increasingly calling for a cold, soggy Thanksgiving week as west-to-east winter-pattern storms continued to roll across the continental landscape.
Associated Press
Record dryness in US Northeast should change water behavior, experts say
Fires have burned in parks and forests around New York City. Towns and cities in a stretch from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to south of Philadelphia had their driest three months on record, according to the Applied Climate Information System. Major changes need to happen to avoid critical shortages of water in the future, even if that future isn't immediate.
Associated Press
Israel cracks down on Palestinian citizens who speak out against the war in Gaza
UMM AL-FAHM, Israel (AP) — Israel’s yearlong crackdown against Palestinian citizens who speak out against the war in Gaza is prompting many to self-censor out of fear of being jailed and further marginalized in society, while some still find ways to dissent — carefully. Ahmed Khalefa's life turned upside down after he was charged with inciting terrorism for chanting in solidarity with Gaza at an anti-war protest in October 2023. The lawyer and city counselor from central Israel says he spent three difficult months in jail followed by six months detained in an apartment.
AFP
Wounded Bangladesh protesters receive robotic helping hand
Squeezing rubber-covered robotic prosthetic hands, Bangladesh protesters wounded during the deadly revolution to topple autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina test out replacement arms for their lost limbs.On Thursday he was fitted with a prosthetic limb, alongside four other students who also lost their hands during the months-long protests in which at least 700 people were killed during a police crackdown.
Associated Press
He'll be the last meatpacker in the Meatpacking District. Here's how NYC's gritty 'hood got chic
When John Jobbagy’s grandfather immigrated from Budapest in 1900, he joined a throng of European butchers chopping up and shipping off meat in a loud, smelly corner of Manhattan that New Yorkers called the Meatpacking District. Today only a handful of meatpackers remain, and they're preparing to say goodbye to a very different neighborhood, known more for its high-end boutiques and expensive restaurants than the industry that gave it its name. Jobbagy and the other tenants in the district’s last meat market have accepted a deal from the city to move out so the building can be redeveloped, the culmination of a decades-long transformation.
CNN
One small thing you can do for healthier food and exercise over holiday travel
Going to see loved ones over the holidays often means a lot of sitting and eating. Do you have to put limits on those if you are trying to maintain healthy habits?
Associated Press
Haiti wonders what's next as gang violence surges and UN peacekeeping mission flops
When Kenyan police arrived in Haiti as part of a U.N.-backed mission earlier this year to tackle gang violence, hopes were high. Coordinated gang attacks on prisons, police stations and the main international airport had crippled the country’s capital and forced the prime minister to resign, plunging Haiti into an unprecedented crisis. The main international airport closed for the second time this year after gangs opened fire on commercial flights in mid-November, striking a flight attendant.
Associated Press
Romanians cast ballots in presidential race that could pit nationalist against leftist in a runoff
Romanians are casting ballots on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election that could pit a far-right nationalist against the incumbent leftist prime minister in the runoff. Thirteen candidates are vying for the presidency in the European Union and NATO member country, and the vote is expected to go to a second round on Dec. 8. Romanians abroad have been able to vote since Friday.
CNN
2 killed, 1 injured when Civil Air Patrol plane crashes during training exercise in Colorado
A Civil Air Patrol plane crashed during a training exercise in northern Colorado on Saturday, killing two people and injuring another person, authorities said.
Associated Press
Nigeria turns to natural gas as transport prices soar after petrol subsidies were removed
When Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu ended the costly subsidies that made petrol affordable for many in Africa's most populous country, Ahmed Halilu knew his e-hailing cab business in the capital, Abuja, was about to run into huge losses. Transportation costs skyrocketed as the price of petrol more than tripled in the months that followed last year's decision, resulting in the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. In what they said would eventually lower transportation costs by almost 50%, Nigerian authorities in August introduced a compressed natural gas (CNG) initiative to tap its huge gas reserves — Africa’s largest — and roll out CNG buses while switching petrol-powered vehicles to use it.
CBS News
Fugitive Kaitlin Armstrong caught after answering ad for a yoga instructor
When cyclist Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson was murdered in Texas, U.S. Marshals assigned to the case used a unique tactic to track down her suspected killer in Costa Rica and bring the fugitive to justice.
Associated Press
Uruguay's once-dull election has become a dead heat in the presidential runoff
Uruguayans will return to the polls on Sunday for a second round of voting to choose their next president, with the conservative governing party and the left-leaning coalition locked in a close runoff after failing to win an outright majority in last month's vote. The election has turned into a hard-fought race between Álvaro Delgado, the incumbent party's candidate, and Yamandú Orsi from the Broad Front, a coalition of leftist and center-left parties that governed for 15 years until the 2019 victory of center-right President Luis Lacalle Pou. It oversaw the legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and the sale of marijuana in the small South American nation.
CNN
Dartmouth sorority and 2 frat members face charges after student who attended party drowned
A sorority at Dartmouth College and two members of a fraternity are facing charges related to the death of a student who drowned after attending an off-campus party this summer.
AFP
Palestinian pottery sees revival in war-ravaged Gaza
Traditional clay pottery is seeing a resurgence in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians are forced to find solutions for a shortage of plates and other crockery to eat from in the territory ravaged by more than a year of war."There is an unprecedented demand for plates as no supplies enter the Gaza Strip," 26-year-old potter Jafar Atallah said in the central Gaza city of Deir el-Balah.
AFP
Main points of the $300 billion climate deal
The deal reached at UN climate talks in Azerbaijan ramps up the money that wealthy historic emitters will provide to help poorer nations transition to cleaner energy and adapt to global warming.The deal states that developed nations would be "taking the lead" in providing the $300 billion -- implying that others could join.
Reuters
Philippine VP's assassination threat against president a national security matter, official says
The Philippines' security council will verify an alleged assassination threat by Vice President Sara Duterte against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a top official said on Sunday, describing it as a "matter of national security". Duterte, in a strongly-worded morning briefing on Saturday, said she had spoken with an assassin and instructed them to kill Marcos, his wife and the speaker of the Philippine House if she were to be killed. National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said the government considers all threats to the president as "serious", vowing to closely work with law enforcement and intelligence communities to investigate the threat and possible perpetrators.
AFP
Israel retreat helps rescuers heal from October 7 attack
From a distance, it seemed like a relaxing get-together among friends.
AFP
Developing nations slam 'paltry' $300 bn climate deal
The world approved a bitterly negotiated climate deal Sunday but poorer nations most at the mercy of worsening disasters dismissed a $300 billion a year pledge from wealthy historic polluters as insultingly low.The agreement commits developed nations to pay at least $300 billion a year by 2035 to help developing countries green their economies, cut emissions and prepare for worse disasters.
AFP
Afghan women turn to entrepreneurship under Taliban
When Zainab Ferozi saw Afghan women struggling to feed their families after Taliban authorities took power, she took matters into her own hands and poured her savings into starting a business.Ferozi is one of many women who have launched small businesses in the past three years to meet their own needs and support other Afghan women, whose employment sharply declined after the Taliban took power in 2021.
CNN
World agrees to climate deal on financial aid for developing countries after summit nearly implodes
Wealthy countries pledged to provide $300 billion a year by 2035 to poorer countries to help them cope with the increasingly catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis — a figure many developing countries criticized as vastly insufficient.

Latest Stories