Nick Young Says He Wants to See Kobe Bryant Play in BIG3 After Ice Cube Comments

Former Los Angeles Lakers and current Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Nick Young endorsed the idea of Kobe Bryant potentially joining the BIG3 basketball league Thursday.

When asked about the possibility by TMZ Sports, Young said he wanted to see it happen.

Earlier Thursday, BIG3 founder Ice Cube said on KTLA in Los Angeles (h/t TMZ Sports) that he hopes Kobe will show some interest in joining the league:

"I hope so, one day. I hope his competitive juices get the itch in him and he wants to, you know, come in the league and score 50 and win the game. We hope he'll play one day. But if not you know we still got some great players. Still competitive guys that want to play."

Kobe retired following the 2015-16 season and suffered through myriad injuries over the final few years of his career.

The 18-time NBA All-Star's production dropped to 17.6 points per game in his final season, which was a far cry from his career average of 25.0, and he shot just 35.8 percent from the field.

Bryant appeared sore and battered throughout much of his swan song, but he still managed to go out in typical Kobe fashion by netting 60 points in his final game.

There seemingly isn't much reason to return to basketball after that storybook ending, but the five-time NBA champion is as competitive as they come.

The BIG3 league could conceivably satisfy whatever hunger he has in that area while still keeping him healthy since the level of intensity lacks in comparison to the NBA.

Although a return to basketball from an on-court perspective seems unlikely for the 38-year-old, coaxing him out of retirement could be the massive coup BIG3 needs in order to truly establish itself as a major sports league.