Report: BIG3 Planning Quarantined Tournament in April Amid Coronavirus Shutdown

Basketball is coming back in April courtesy of the BIG3. 

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the league is launching "a quarantined, reality show-style three-on-three tournament" starting next month, with "16 to 22 players from the Big3 who are negative for the coronavirus" participating in the preseason tournament. 

Those players reportedly will be quarantined by the league in a "large home" in Los Angeles, per Haynes. Any players who break that quarantine will be removed from the tournament. 

BIG3 co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz spoke about the decision to hold the event amidst the coronavirus pandemic:

"As long as we can protect the players, which we will do through proper testing and quarantine, [BIG3 co-founder] Ice Cube and I feel we can give fans some safe, entertaining brand of basketball to get everyone through this pandemic. Cube and I have been in the entertainment business for 30 years. This is our job. People want to be entertained with all we're going through and enjoy our sports. We think this will help."

The tournament itself will feature seven rounds of games, with teams shuffling players after the first round. Players who accumulate three losses will be removed from the pool. Cash prizes "totaling millions of dollars" will be awarded to the top three players. Per Haynes, Ice Cube and Kwatinetz have been in discussions with multiple TV networks to broadcast the tournament.

There will also be a reality TV component to the BIG3's coverage of the tournament. The players will live together in a mansion with a basketball court and training facility on the property. Per Haynes, "The games and the players' daily lives will be captured on camera for added drama and storylines."

With the NBA on hiatus through at least mid-April, the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments canceled and a dearth of sports in general at this time, it's likely the BIG3's tournament will be the only game in town.