It looks like Detroit is getting more basketball.
The BIG3, a professional 3-on-3 basketball league founded by Ice Cube, is expected to announce next week that a new team will be based in Detroit, The Detroit News has learned.
The Detroit team will begin competing in the 2025 season, when the BIG3 model will move to location-based franchises, joining Los Angeles, Miami and Houston, which announced the new teams in recent weeks. The league has announced its intention to move away its 12 teams that travel around the country and play in NBA arenas but are not based in home markets.
The ownership group will be led by Keith J. Stone, founder and chairman of GameAbove Sports and will include Detroit icon George Gervin, who currently coaches the BIG 3’s Ghost Ballers team. Gervin played at Eastern Michigan University before achieving a Hall of Fame career in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs.
Former Detroit Lions player T.J. Lang and Born in Detroit co-founder Anthony Tomey also are part of the group.
The BIG3 is in its seventh season and expanded from eight teams to 12 in 2019.