The BIG3 has fired commissioner Roger Mason Jr. in the wake of an alleged corruption scandal and replaced him with rapper Ice Cube, according to Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports. Mason reportedly secured the investment for the 3-on-3 league from two Qatari businessmen, who were later investigated for refusing to pay millions of dollars to the league. Mason allegedly refused to cooperate with the investigation, according to a TMZ Sports report. In a statement posted by Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, Mason Jr. refuted the notion he was removed because of corruption, calling the BIG3 work environment “hostile and racist.”
In other basketball news around the country:
- The BIG3’s second season will begin in Houston on June 22, according to a league press release. Games will also take place in Chicago, Oakland, Detroit, Miami, Toronto, Dallas and Boston during the regular season. Atlanta will host most of the playoff games with the championship scheduled for New York’s Barclays Center on August 24th.
- Iowa’s Tyler Cook will enter the draft, but won’t hire an agent, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. The 6’9” Cook averaged 15.3 PPG and 6.8 RPG for the Hawkeyes as a sophomore this season.
- Connecticut swingman Terry Larrier has opted to enter the draft, he announced in a press release. The 6’8” Larrier averaged 13.9 PPG and 4.8 RPG for the Huskies in his junior season. Connecticut parted ways with head coach Kevin Ollie over the weekend.
- The NBA 2K league will hold its inaugural draft lottery on Tuesday, according to a league press release. The E-Sports league will host its first draft, a six-round event, on April 4th.
No Vaseline?
Niiiice