The NBA is being investigated by the United States Department of Justice over allegations the league attempted to sabotage Ice Cube’s Big3 league, according to TMZ Sports. The league has denied the allegations.
Ice Cube and Big3 co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz have met with Department of Justice lawyers regarding concerns the NBA may have engaged in anticompetitive behavior.
The allegations include the NBA interfering with sponsorship deals, discouraging television networks from broadcasting games, and making arbitrary rules to prevent players from joining the league, despite the NBA and Big3 seasons not overlapping.
The report also claims Big3 officials believe they have been “unfairly targeted by the NBA” and sources in the story say NBA owners have been discouraged from investing in Ice Cube’s league.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass told TMZ the allegations were “not true”.
“We have been supportive of the Big3 since its inception, but we declined to invest.”
The NBA would face a substantial fine if found guilty.
by Phillip228
27 Comments
Bruh imagine trying to quash a league where Iso Joe is the goat
Will Ice Cube have enough time to commit to this? Seems like he’s licking boots 25 hours a day lately.
Edit: his only shot to compete with Eazy was to use homophobia and antisemitism. Cube has always been on the wrong side of history.
Settlement reached.
Cube’s attorneys entered negotiations with garlic and holy water. They didn’t even have to bust out the stakes.
Ice Cube will be the new Count of the NBA. I mean Commisioner. Silver will be able to feed and then slumber for a century or two.
Didn’t the new CBA try to limit Big 3’s? Seems open and shut.
Edit: Guys it is an nba roster joke.
It does seem weird the nba wouldn’t have any interest in the league considering it’s an Olympic sport now
No possible way Ice Cube is spreading conspiracy theories!?! I am flabbergasted
Yeah I wouldn’t put it past the NBA, the rich/corporations don’t get where they are because they played by the rules.
Lie,Cheat and Steal is the motto of the powerful.
Great, now that antisemitic bigot, Ice Cube, has a “Jewish conspiracy” to blather about. SMH
NBA has been getting desperate lately, like their recent report that resting isn’t actually beneficial to injured players
When one (Ice Cube) aligns themselves with financial backers, such as Steve Bannon, in a business endeavor bad things happen.
I don’t buy it.
Interesting…..
Please, the big 3 was never going to be a threat to the NBA. Ice Cube has become a clown.
I can 100% buy that
Lol
Do most NBA owners even know that Big3 exists?
The Big3’s average viewership (500k) is less than 1/3 of a regular season NBA game (1.59MM) and wouldn’t crack the top 250 shows in terms of viewership.
This has everything to do with being a niche product; of course you aren’t going to draw the same advertisers as the NBA with such limited reach.
https://ustvdb.com/ratings/shows/
Ha
The Department of Justice finds no evidence of sabotage.
Is it not common for large companies to have “moonlighting” rules where employees can’t take another job that could interfere with their current one, especially if within the same industry? That does not strike me as illegal. Putting pressure on sponsors would be lame. But it seems perfectly reasonable for Adam Silver to tell NBA players they are not allowed to play in any other professional leagues while under contract with a team.
Seems like that would a Federal Trade Commission issue first.
> NBA interfering with sponsorship deals, discouraging television networks from broadcasting games
if true not a good look.
Controlling regionality, blacking out games, mobster back room persuasion.. how about promoting the sport globally to compete with soccer and cricket instead of self cannabilizing
Maybe it being a 3v3 league full of washed up old men sabotaged it?
If I’m an NBA owner, I would not want my players in a separate league, seems like an injury risk.
Please let Kendrick be normal person. Let us have one
Can’t wait to see how this unfolds…