Big3/Young3 Week 1 - Houston, Texas

June 26, 2018 | CBN

Season 2 of the Big3 tipped off this weekend in Houston, Texas. We saw the defending champs, Trilogy take their first Big3 L in an upset to Tri-State. Three other teams who moved to 1-0 were the 3 Headed Monsters, 3’s Company, and Power.

Stealing the show was Nate Robinson as he made his debut for Tri-State. In the win, Nate became a fan-favorite and was jawing with Rashad McCants all game. After Nate hit the game-winner he went straight for the Trilogy bench and took McCants’ joker mask which began a scuffle with players screaming back and forth. Nate and Tri-State are going to be a very, very entertaining team to watch this summer.

On the close, competitive 50-48 win against the Ghost Ballers, Coach Payton says, “I love it! I mean tough games like that make us better so when we blow people out it makes it easier to get people to relax. When you have tough games and know how to execute at the end that makes them understand what’s going on. So I liked the way we won tonight, we made big shots and played good defense.”

I spoke with 3 Headed Monsters coach, Gary Payton after his game and he’s very excited about his team and the upcoming season. He stated that, “We want to win the championship, we were in the championship last year and we want to make the championship again and win it, that’s our whole goal, it ain’t nothing else we fall short if we don’t win the championship.”

Of course the Big3 games are a huge deal and everything but what’s also very important is the Young3 and all that was done for the youth this week. The Young3 clinic and 3 on 3 tournament were held at the Holthouse Boys and Girls Club on Thursday. Helping out the community is a major goal of the Big3 and connecting with the youth is a perfect fit.

All participants of the Young3 clinic and tournament were invited to the Big3 games on Friday and were psyched to watch the action live. “It’s a great thing for young kids to see 3 on 3 competitively and with it becoming an Olympic sport it shows them there’s really a market for this,” said Glen Davis of the Power. Baron Davis of 3’s Company commented, “I think it’s a great thing for the youth to see the opportunity for 3 on 3 basketball. The Young3 has been great for these young kids who have aspirations of playing basketball professionally.” Gary Payton added some remarks about Young3, “Well I think JYD (Jerome Williams) did a great job of giving these kids an opportunity to see what they are about and what they are around. So they can understand it’s not only about sports it’s about an education and everything to get out of where they want to get out of. It gives them a goal to set, it gives them something to look forward to and I think it’s going to be very beneficial for them because they’re going to get a lot of education with everything.”

The opportunity for these young children to meet basketball legends, see competitive 3 on 3 basketball played live will be impactful for a lifetime. Many of these kids will be motivated to play professional basketball as it’s a dream of a plethora of children. Professional 3 on 3 basketball will be an option especially with 3 on 3 becoming an Olympic sport very shortly.

All in all week one of the Big3 was a major success and this season should be phenomenal. No matter who wins the championship, the biggest winners will be those young children whose lives were positively impacted by the Young3 and Big3.

 

Follow @championsbball on Instagram