Ice Cube's Big3 basketball league is back and it's bigger and better (I would have said "Deffer" since LL Cool J is involved but youngsters probably wouldn't get the reference) than ever. All of the best players from the first season are back and new faces include former NBA All-Stars Amar'e Stoudemire, Jermaine O'Neal, Metta World Peace, Carlos Boozer and 3 x NBA dunk champion Nate Robinson.
Playing in front of a packed Toyota Center with Tracy McGrady, the Houston Mayor and a who's who of H-Town rappers, the 5'9" Nate Robinson stole the show by putting on a show and handing team Trilogy their first ever loss. Nate was hitting tough layups, knocking down threes and doing a lot of talking and bumping that would have led to technical fouls in today's soft NBA.
Rashad McCants (the first basketball player to date a Kardashian) was the opponent doing most of the bumping and trash-talking with Nate. The reason why Nate was so upset is because Rashad walked into the arena wearing a Joker mask and a Thanos glove...excuse me, Infinity Gauntlet!
When your the reigning champs of the Big 3 you can make this type of grand entrance, lol @RashadMcCants_ str8 classic! pic.twitter.com/Wkfx2Y7nmV
— Jim Jackson (@jimjackson419) June 23, 2018
"He's just running his mouth." Robinson said to Michael Rapaport during a time-out interview. "You come to the game with a Joker mask, you got a glove. I don't play that shit...Our team is going to do what they got to do to win, you got to punch a bully in the mouth, you got to back it up."
After knocking down the game winner (first team to 50 wins), Nate went over to the opposing team's bench and grabbed McCant's Joker mask. As expected, McCant's wasn't too happy about it and neither was his teammate Kenyon Martin.
Nate Robinson ain't playing y'all. pic.twitter.com/OoZYSOtzPO
— FS1 (@FS1) June 23, 2018
Speaking of Nate and fights, he was involved in the last "great" NBA fight: the 2006 brawl between the Knicks and Nuggets. He was also involved in the infamous shower fight with Malik Rose in 2005.
"Nate tried to jump on me when I was naked, thinking he had the advantage that way," Rose said about a lost bet over a Seahawks and Eagles game. "He just got on my nerves, trying to get his money, and I'm not giving it to him. It was a couple of dollars."
And here's 10 more reasons why I love Nate.