FORMER PBA reinforcements including two Best Import awardees are among the familiar names listed in the Draft Pool for the coming 2021 BIG3 SuperDraft.
KJ McDaniels, Renaldo Balkman, Elijah Millsap, Al Thornton, Arinze Onuaku, and Romeo Travis are among the more than 100 applicants in the June 14 event.
McDaniels suited up for TnT Tropang Giga in the last Governors Cup held before the pandemic; Balkman was the resident import of San Miguel and Alab Pilipinas in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL); Millsap, brother of Denver Nuggets veteran Paul Millsap, played twice for the Beermen, while Thorton twice shot the lights out for NLEX.
Onuaku had two stops with the Meralco Bolts and won the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup Best Import trophy during his first stint with the franchise, while Travis was 2015 Governors Cup Best Import while with Alaska before spending his last two stints in the PBA with Magnolia, where he won a championship in the 2018 Governors Cup.
Big man Isiah Austin, once a prospect to become a naturalized player for Gilas Pilipinas, is likewise in the mix.
The BIG3 is a 3-on-3 basketball league founded by hip hop musician and actor Ice Cube together with entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz.
A total of 12 teams, coached by former NBA and WNBA superstars, are competing in the league, whose rosters mostly consists of ex-NBA players and veteran internationalists.
The rules applied by the league however, are variations from the official rules used by FIBA on 3x3 basketball.
Other former PBA imports listed in the Draft Pool include Jason Forte (Alaska and Rain or Shine), Sammy Monroe (Barako Bull), Gani Lawal (Meralco), Mo Charlo (Rain or Shine), Corey Jefferson (Alaska), Rodney Carney (TnT), and Jason Maxiell, who was signed by TnT for the 2016 Governors Cup but was declared ineligible after exceeding the 6-foot-5 height limit.
Several former NBA players are also in the Draft Pool including Metta World Peace, Tyrus Thomas, Julian Wright, Jodie Meeks, Jermaine Taylor, Deshawn Stevenson, Jordan Hill, among others.
Also in the list are popular streetball player Larry ‘Bone Collector’ Williams and Dusan Bulut, the Serbian point guard considered as one of the top 3x3 players in the world.
The Triplets, coached by WNBA legend Lisa Leslie, beat the Killer 3s of Charles Oakley for the 2019 championship
The BIG3 didn’t hold a tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.