by Kelvin Nyaga
Soon after the hangover of the Denver Nuggets claiming their first-ever NBA title, and coach Malone’s hip-hop-laced drunk antics, a new headline has come up.
This headline was sparked by a real rapper this time, Ice Cube, who posted a cryptic message on Twitter.
“Some of you may not have realized that I’m not part of the club, and a lot of you listening to me right now, you are not part of the club either.”
Coming from a guy who has appeared in Blockbuster movies and graced the corridors of Hollywood, “I’m not part of the club” was a shocker to hear. He went on.
“What I’ve realized with the club is that what makes them mad is when you don’t want to be a part of their F***king club. What club am I talking about? The club of gatekeepers that we all have to deal with.”
If you’re wondering who the “gatekeepers” are, Cube reveals that in the statement after this one.
“Really, I don’t give a f**k about working with the NBA. When I say I want them to work with us, I want them to stop working against us. Stop doing that bullshit behind the scenes that we know you are doing. Mainstream media, they don’t f**k with us and that’s cool, we can rise without these motherf**kers.”
Ice Cube then promised to go on a “F**k the gatekeepers podcast tour” and promises to talk to everybody.
Now that you have the gist of the story, let’s highlight three reasons why Ice Cube is going to war with the NBA.
The Big 3 is Under threat
Ice Cube owns the Big 3 League, which is an innovative league, playing basketball in the off-season. It’s a league where aspiring players and former players go to learn and roll back the years, respectively.
Despite the haters, the league has been averaging more than 10,000 fan viewership feats each stop. By this time last year, the league reported that it was enjoying a three-year ratings high on CBS with 625,000 average viewership in the US.
Though this is just a shadow of the viewership that the NBA enjoys, the NBA has been undermining the Big 3 League, according to Ice Cube. According to Cube, he doesn’t understand why the NBA has a problem with players getting a "little cheque" in the close season.
In an interview with Joe Rogan of the JRE Experience, Cube said that the NBA has not only been encouraging people not to play in the Big 3, but also discouraging sponsors from getting involved. He also accused the Adam Silver-led organization of encouraging networks not to host the league.
If we go by Cube’s words, then the Big 3 is in trouble because leagues cannot survive on Star power alone. Celebrities can get butts in seats, but without those network and sponsorship dollars, it can be extremely hard to survive. It is no wonder Ice Cube had to come out to declare a scorched-earth policy war against the supposed gatekeepers.
2. Ice Cube is the Kyrie Irving of the Mainstream World
At least he’s viewed as that.
Cube has lots of similarities with the Dallas Mavericks point guard. He turned down a $9 million movie role because of the COVID shot, was accused of antisemitism for posting cryptic tweets, and has gone off script severely. This is also the story of Kyrie Irving’s career.
In the interview with Joe Rogan, Cube recounts feeling pressured and “made to feel” stupid for not taking the vaccine. You can tell that Ice Cube believes that he’s been left out of the Hollywood “Club” since his anti-vax stance.
Just like the song “F**k the Police” made him public enemy number one in the industry back in the 1990s, his scrapes with established mainstream order have made him public enemy number one today.
My conjecture is that his league is being maligned for this reason. He’s just not 'one of the boys'. He’s not Kevin Hart or Trevor Noah, he’s a “N***a with Attitude” trying to run a league on his own terms and will stop at nothing to succeed.
This is if everything he says is true.
3. Cube Wants Legends to Play on
By his own admission, older players may not have what it takes to play 80 games back to back. The old heads can play on the weekends only though, and put in crowd-pleasing performances.
When Joe Rogan asked Cube how the idea for the Big 3 came about, he said that he watched Kobe Bryant play his last game for the Lakers and felt a way about it.
“We saw Kobe score 60 points in his last game. We thought it sucks that we can never see Kobe Bryant playing a professional basketball game again. There has got to be other guys that people want to see that still got it.”
He expressed how old heads were bringing in vintage crowds. He added that he couldn’t understand why Adam Silver and the rest of the NBA suits would be unhappy about it.
“I am thinking about them trying to deprive Doctor J, Rick Barry, Iceman, and George Gervin of a little cheque in the summer. What's their problem?”
Ice Cube wants the old heads to roll back the years and earn while doing it, and is willing to confront whatever forces are going against that. As for the state of the Big 3 League, Ice Cube told Joe Rogan that his vision was to complement the NBA and not compete with it.
Ice Cube has done a few podcasts of late, and is scheduled to continue his No Vaseline “F***k the gatekeepers” podcast tour.
We will wait to see what more get’s revealed.
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