A small-time New York City basketball club is claiming rapper Ice Cube and entertainment exec Jeff Kwatinetz stole their idea for a popular 3-on-3 league featuring retired NBA players, according to a new $50 million lawsuit.
Champions League founder Carl George alleges he recognized that a “significant amount of talented players in the NBA” are pushed out annually, and beginning in 2011 poured over $100,000 into creating a league where former “All-Stars” could keep playing.
The court papers claims that “business associates” of “Mr. Cube” — real name O’Shea Jackson Sr. — and Kwatinetz started appearing at CBL’s investor meetings, and began poaching their players for a new league, BIG3.
“The BIG3 started approaching various potential players in Dec. 2016, many of whom had already signed contracts with the CBL,” the Manhattan Supreme Court suit alleges.
Neither Kwatinetz, who manages Ice Cube, nor a rep from BIG3 immediately responded to a request for comment.