Clyde Drexler on 3-on-3 Basketball Heading to Olympics
*By Max Godnick*
Twenty-three years after winning an NBA championship, Clyde Drexler is changing the game.
The Basketball Hall of Famer is now the commissioner and president of The BIG3, a professional three-on-three league composed entirely of former NBA players. In just its sophomore season, the league is already airing games in every TV market in the U.S. and drawing an average attendance of over 11,500 people across 10 cities ー bigger crowds than most college basketball games.
"We're changing the game and The BIG3 is here to stay," Drexler said Thursday in an interview on Cheddar.
The BIG3 is breaking boundaries and reaching milestones that still seem out of bounds for more established leagues like the NBA or NFL. This week, Nancy Lieberman, the head coach of the team Power, was named Coach of the Year. None of the country's four largest professional leagues have yet hired a female coach.
"Women are capable. It just depends on can they do the job or not," Drexler said. "Hopefully that will follow suit in every sporting league."
The BIG3 this year also became the first professional sports league to permit the use of CBD for athletes' pain management and recovery. Cannabidiol is a naturally occurring chemical compound in cannabis that doesn't cause the psychoactive effects ー the "high" ー commonly associated with marijuana.
"They are using it, and some of them love it," Drexler said of The BIG3's athletes. "It's a good alternative, and you can't turn down good, healthy, natural alternatives when it comes to pain."
Kobe Bryant's representatives [shot down rumors](http://www.nba.com/article/2018/08/21/kobe-bryant-wont-play-big3-league-next-year) this week that the superstar is considering joining The BIG3 next year. But the league already counts plenty of NBA All-Stars, including Baron Davis, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Kenyon Martin, among its ranks. And Drexler plans to court others.
"\[We want\] Tim Duncan, we want Paul Pierce, we want Ray Allen, we want a bunch of guys other than Kobe," he said. "You've got to play somewhere, so why not come play with us?"
In the last decade, critics have slammed the NBA for distributing superstar power unevenly on their rosters. If some of The BIG3's teams were active years earlier, they might be considered superteams, too.
But Drexler, who played on a Houston Rockets team alongside fellow stars Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon, isn't here for the hand-wringing.
"The superteams are the teams that make good decisions," he said.
Drexler's advice to those just trying to keep up?
"Get better players."
For full interview [click here] (https://cheddar.com/videos/clyde-drexler-on-the-big3s-big-year).
Terry Dunn Meurer, executive producer of the 'Unsolved Mysteries' podcast, joins Cheddar News to discuss the new season and why people are obsessed with true crime.
Catching you up on the entertainment headlines of the day with "Top Gun: Maverick" making $19.3M in previews, BTS heading to the White House, and "Ozark” reclaiming the throne as number one in the Nielsen streaming ratings.
Music group North Star Boys joins Cheddar News to discuss their debut single, shutting down Times Square, and representing the Asian community through music.
On this episode of ChedHER: Author of 'The Glass Ledge: How to Break Through Self-Sabotage, Embrace Your Power, and Create Your Success' discusses what exactly the 'glass ledge' is and how to overcome negative self-perception; Co-Owner of Wanderlust Creamery explains the story behind launching her very own ice cream business, and how she's overcome hurdles as a business owner; Chief Marketing Officer at Great Learning and Capacity Planning Analyst at Salesforce discuss how upskilling can help you advance in your career.
Adrienne Borlongan, Co-Owner of Wanderlust Creamery, joins ChedHER to discuss the story behind launching her very own ice cream business, and how she's overcome hurdles as a business owner.
Iman Oubou, Author of 'The Glass Ledge: How to Break Through Self-Sabotage, Embrace Your Power, and Create Your Success,' joins ChedHER to discuss what exactly the 'glass ledge' is and how to overcome negative self-perception.
Aparna Mahesh, Chief Marketing Officer at Great Learning, and Brandy Murray, Capacity Planning Analyst at Salesforce and Great Learning learner, join ChedHER to discuss how upskilling can help you advance in your career.
Umbilical cord blood banking platform Anja Health raised $4.5 million dollars in a seed round led by Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Anja Health offers a personalized, doctor-backed cord blood bank, which lets new parents freeze stem cells from their child's umbilical cord so they can be used to treat diseases in the future. It's a process Anja has called 'Hollywood's best-kept secret,' as celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Serena Williams, and more have all banked their umbilical cord blood. Kathryn Cross, the founder of Anja Health, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Actor Jimmy O. Yang is partnering with Chinese food chain Panda Express for his YouTube series "Jimmy's Kitchen." The comedian joined Cheddar News to talk about the partnership as well as upcoming ventures. "Panda Express could not be more perfect like even before this deal, I was just wearing a Panda Express hat for fun when I go outside," he said.
