BIG3 basketball league team to play in Miami next year

South Florida will soon be getting its own BIG3 team, part of the 3-on-3 professional basketball league founded by entertainer Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz.

On Saturday,  BIG3 announced that rights for the second-ever location-based BIG3 franchise are being sold to executive Heath Freeman in a $10 million deal. Freeman is also chairman of Tribune Publishing, the parent company of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

“I am honored to join Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz at the BIG3 and bring a new professional basketball team to Miami,” Freeman said in a statement. “BIG3 is shaping the future of basketball; the gameplay is dynamic and nuanced and the product on the court appeals to the audiences in this incredibly fast-growing region.”

The team is scheduled to start playing in Miami in the 2025 season. Also starting then will be a Los Angeles-based BIG3 franchise, purchased recently by an ownership group led by DCB Sports, also for a reported $10 million.

The league originally started in 2017 with all touring teams: all the teams played on the road every week. The league is putting all 12 teams up for sale, and the deals in Los Angeles and Miami are the first as the league transitions to a location-based league, like most pro leagues.

BIG3 CEO Ice Cube said Miami was an obvious choice for a team.

“Our fans in Miami have been loud these past few years, and we couldn’t be happier to, alongside this group, bring the BIG3 to them permanently,” he said in a statement.

Freeman is also managing partner of the Professional Bull Riders team Florida Freedom, which is based in Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena. He is executive chairman of the AVP, the pro beach volleyball league.

According to a news release, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has attended  BIG3 games in Miami and met previously with Ice Cube and Kwatinetz to discuss the league’s potential for community outreach in Miami.

“We are thrilled to bring a BIG3 franchise to Miami,” Suarez said in a statement.