Gilbert Arenas Struggled With Ice Cube-Owned Big3’s Demands After Leaving NBA With $160 Million Earnings

3v3 basketball is not as easy as it may look like. There is a reason why many national teams design athletes specifically for the half-court game. When we look at American rapper Ice Cube’s Big 3, it is more or less the same, but Gilbert Arenas believes it is more exhausting. The Washington Wizards icon, who earned $160 million in his 11 seasons in the NBA, revealed few major differences between the world-famous league and Big 3, which many might not agree with. 

Big 3 was an initiative from Ice Cube that was started in 2017. In these seven years, numerous players have come out of retirement to play professional basketball. Lamar Odom, Nick Young, Joe Johnson, Al Jefferson, among many others. Arenas also comes on the list, who has assumed the role of both a player and a coach in the Big 3. How different is this league from the NBA? 

The 3x All-Star shared, “It’s more taxing than you’ll actually think. It’s a very different game. You have to be mentally in tune, physically in tune. You’re exerting so much energy and I don’t the first year a lot of those guys didn’t know that. That’s why they were getting hurt.” There is no time to relax in 3v3 basketball. Sharp cuts, quick movements, and endurance are the three biggest factors in this game. So if you look at the Big 3 in the above aspect, it’s very tiring. 

However, the above-mentioned players did not star in this tournament during their prime years. Rather, it was after retirement, which clearly shows why it is very “taxing.“ Arenas who joined in the Big 3 in 2019, aged 37, shared his personal experience to highlight how tiring playing in the Big 3 was. He said, “My very first game, we played on a Sunday I think. I missed my Sunday flight, I missed every flight on Monday, caught the last one on Tuesday. That’s how tired I was.” 

However, Arenas need not worry about getting exhausted anymore because he is not a part of Big 3 since October last year.

Gilbert Arenas is unlikely to return to the Big 3 because of a change in rules

Arenas spent three years with Team ‘Enemies’ in the Big 3. He was initially a player there, then took the job on the sideline. He did not find much success as a coach. In October 2023, he was replaced by former Los Angeles Lakers star Nick Young as the head coach. So is there a chance that Arenas might return to this league for a different team? Maybe as a player once again? 

That’s very unlikely because of Big 3’s controversial rule which Arenas recently spoke about. In this 3v3 league, there are no foul-outs. A player has no limit when it comes to fouling their opponents, so they need not worry about foul trouble at all. This, because Ice Cube wants to leave that to the NBA and wants players to be themselves on the court. However, Arenas is not a fan of that. 

He spoke about it a few days back, “I’m reading the rules. I’m like, all right, so unlimited fouls…Huh? So they don’t foul out? Like on offense or defense? I called Cube and I say ‘Wait, hold on’…Like oh no, I don’t even know if I want this contract.” Looking at the above words, it is very unlikely that Arenas will return to the Big 3. However, he respects the league for its competitiveness.

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