Big3 to host quarantined tournament in April amid coronavirus outbreak
The Big3 plans to hold a 3-on-3 tournament in April featuring players who have tested negative for the coronavirus and who are willing to be quarantined in a Los Angeles house with a basketball facility on site, according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes.
The tournament is an attempt to appease potential fans who are currently without live professional sports as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“As long as we can protect the players, which we will do through proper testing and quarantine, Ice Cube and I feel we can give fans some safe, entertaining brand of basketball to get everyone through this pandemic,” league founder Jeff Kwatinetz told Yahoo Sports. “Cube and I have been in the entertainment business for 30 years. This is our job. People want to be entertained with all we’re going through and enjoy our sports. We think this will help.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver also floated a potential one-off charity event of some kind Wednesday night in his conversation with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, citing a desire to entertain fans during the league’s hiatus.
The Big3’s preseason tournament will feature 16 to 22 players. Per Yahoo Sports, it will be seven rounds, with teammates reshuffling after the first round.
When a player accumulates three losses, he is eliminated from the player pool. Cash prizes totaling millions of dollars will be awarded for first-, second- and third-place individual winners.
The Big3’s 2020 season is set to kick off on June 20 in Memphis.
As of Thursday evening, there are more than 233,000 confirmed cases worldwide, causing nearly 10,000 deaths. There are more than 10,800 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States.