Ice Cube was a guest on Gilbert Arenas' "No Chill" podcast, where Arenas said that he didn't join the BIG3 league the first two years because he didn't feel like he was trained to the level he wished.

He stated, "I think a lot of people watched the first year to try and figure out the speed of it, and when I watched it I was like, 'Whoosh, they're really going, they're really playing basketball.' So I don't think I'm trained and prepared for that sport right there. It's one of those things where I need to train like I'm playing in the NBA again 'cause I'm not gonna let them get the best of me. So I got four and a half months to get ready for this season." 

Arenas then agree to join the BIG3 league, much to the delight of Ice Cube. He also revealed that a conversation with Michael Jordan inspired him to join the league, stating, "[Jordan] said, 'You in the Big3 yet?'" Arenas recounted. "I said, 'Nahhh.' He said, 'You know what, that's a good concept.' I said, 'Why?' He said: 'Cause there's always retired players that still want to play. That's gonna be around for a while.'"