Back in June of 2017, the BIG3 kicked off their inaugural season at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. After opening night, which included season-ending injuries to Jason Williams and Corey Maggette, many thought the idea of former NBA players coming out of retirement to play basketball was going to have the same fate as the NBA Legends games that used to go down during NBA All-Star weekend.
Well, here we are at the end of a very successful season 2 of Ice Cube's 3-on-3 league and a very successful healthy season 1 for Corey Maggette, who was awarded MVP and Player Captain Of The Year on Tuesday. The former 14-year NBA vet finished second in the league in points and will be competing for a BIG3 championship this Saturday -- at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn!
Maggette's coach in the BIG3, Nancy Lieberman, won Coach of the Year over Gary Payton, who won the Trash Talker of the year award over Stephen Jackson and Nate Robinson.
Rookie Chris "Birdman" Anderson won Defensive Player Of the Year, Al Harrington won the Too Hard To Guard award over 49-year-old Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf after leading his team in points, rebounds and steals, Andre Emmett the 4th Man and Tricky Ricky Davis won the BIG Community Award.
FULL LIST OF BIG3 2018 PLAYER AWARDS:
- Most Valuable Player: Corey Maggette, Power
- Coach of the Year: Nancy Lieberman, Power
- Player Captain of the Year: Corey Maggette, Power
- Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Andersen, Power
- Too Hard to Guard: Al Harrington, Trilogy
- Best Trash Talker: Gary Payton, 3 Headed Monsters
- 4th Man: Andre Emmett, 3’s Company
- BIG Community Award: Ricky Davis
BIG3 2018 REGULAR SEASON STATISTICAL LEADERS
- Points Scored: Ricky Davis, Ghost Ballers (137)
- 3-Pointers: DeShawn Stevenson, Ball Hogs (19)
- 4-Pointers: Nate Robinson, Tri-State (3) David Hawkins, Tri-State (3) Baron Davis, 3’s Company (3) and Ricky Davis, Ghost Ballers (3)
- Total Rebounds: Reggie Evans, 3 Headed Monsters (82)
- Assists: David Hawkins, Tri-State (27)
- Steals: David Hawkins, Tri-State (13)
- Blocks: Chris Andersen, Power (11)
BEST OF BIG BABY
2018 TOP 10 PLAYS
TOP 10 PLAYS OF THE SEASON #BIG3Championship #BIG3Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/OetIx51W8W
— BIG3 on CBS (@thebig3) August 21, 2018