The BIG3’s inaugural draft will take place on Sunday, and in advance of the draft and the upcoming 10-week season we finally have some more details on the rules of the game. We knew the games would be played first team to 60 points, but now we have a better idea of what these halfcourt games will look like thanks to a rules explainer from Ice Cube.
In a video with Michael Rapaport posted to the FS1’s Twitter (the league’s broadcast partner), Ice Cube explained that the BIG3 will look an awful lot like a 3-on-3 game at the park.
4-pointers. Hand-checking. That's BIG3 basketball.@icecube & @MichaelRapaport break down the rules. pic.twitter.com/9NFlLS6eK2
— FS1 (@FS1) April 30, 2017
From this we learned that there will be a four-point circle 30-feet from the hoop, and all you have to do is have any part of your foot touching the circle for it to count. There will also be hand-checking allowed, which makes sense considering the vast majority of players in the league are guys that were in their primes right towards the tail end of when hand-checking was legal in the NBA, and this is a league meant to appeal to those that miss “the old days” of basketball, when it was physical and all that.
Like park rules, if it hits the rim the ball must be cleared out past the three-point line on a defensive rebound. This is standard for pick-up hoops. The free throw rules are also very much like the park. A two-point foul, it’s one shot for two points from the free throw line. On a three-point foul, it’s one shot from the three-point line for three points, and, on a four-pointer, it’s a shot from the four-point circle for four points.
The rules all make sense for what the league wants, which is to feel like you’re watching pick-up ball played between legends of the game. We’ll know what the full team rosters will be on Sunday night after the draft from Las Vegas, and then it’s on to the regular season in June.
