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Drexler named commissioner of Big3 league

With a vacancy at commissioner created by a split with Roger Mason Jr., Ice Cube’s Big3 basketball league promoted from within, naming Clyde Drexler, a 10-time NBA All-Star, to lead the fledgling three-on-three league for the next three years.

“I wholeheartedly believe in what Ice Cube and Jeff have brought to life with the Big3,” Drexler said in a statement, referencing the league’s co-founders, Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz. “The level of play and the professionalism I witnessed last season far exceeded anything that many of us involved ever imagined.”

Drexler, a Hall of Famer who played 15 years in the NBA, replaces Mason, who was terminated Monday as a result of the league believing he had an inappropriate relationship with two Qatari investors. Mason attracted the investors to the league as minority shareholders, but they failed to meet their financial obligations. Mason, who in a statement accused the league of smearing him, emphatically denied the accusation.

The firing of Mason on the same day the league announced the schedule for its second season created a chaotic atmosphere, but with Drexler’s appointment the league is hoping to shift the focus back to its on-court product. The league’s sophomore season, which begins on June 22, has been bolstered by the recent additions of big-name players such as former NBA stars Amar’e Stoudemire, Baron Davis and Metta World Peace.

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The league’s board, which included Ice Cube, Kwatinetz and Amy Trask, its chairwoman, will be expanded to include Drexler and former NBA players Chauncey Billups, Jermaine O’Neal, Corey Maggette and Jerome Williams and the league’s lawyer, Mark Geragos.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

BENJAMIN HOFFMAN © 2018 The New York Times

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