Even if Ice Cube will be busy voicing Superfly in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, he’s always had one particular dream for the future of his career. The actor founded the Big3 basketball league back in 2017, establishing a new format for playing the classic sport with smaller teams and a slightly modified set of rules. During a recent interview with Collider‘s Perri Nemiroff, Ice Cube was asked what he would choose as an essential moment that had to be a part of a movie detailing the origin of the league. The actor’s response was quite an emotional one, with him bringing up a star of the sport who was gone too soon:
The moment I decided to go ahead with the Big3 is the moment that Kobe Bryant scored 60 points in his last game. And I wasn’t there. I almost cried. I did cry. I think that’s gotta be in it. I wasn’t there. I was working. I wasn’t there. How could I forgive myself? I had to start to Big3.
The Big3 continues to hold matches every year, with the roster of players constantly changing as time goes by. While Ice Cube has made a name for himself in the film industry, basketball is a passion that clearly holds a very special place within his heart, as he looks for a way to combine the best of both worlds.
Basketball and the movie industry are not complete strangers, as several productions have been based around the sport and the cultural impact it leaves behind. Some of the movies that have notoriously featured basketball in the spotlight have been the Space Jam films, where professional players team up with the Looney Tunes to take on powerful villains. Michael Jordan was part of the unconventional team back in 1996, while LeBron James took the Looney Tunes to the limit a couple of years ago, when the sequel was released in 2021. As one of the most popular sports across the United States, there’s no way of knowing how many possibilities there are when it comes to capturing basketball through the lens of a camera.
What’s Next for Ice Cube?
Before he can start thinking about creating a movie based on the Big3, Ice Cube will voice Superfly in the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. As part of the team of villains who want to take over the human world, the mutant fly won’t let anyone stand in his way, making his best efforts to ensure that the human race is dominated by the mutants. It remains to be seen if the titular turtles will be strong enough to stop the mutants in time, or if Earth is about to have a complete makeover in a matter of months. The future of humanity lies in the sticky hands of four teenagers who know how to bring a fight.
via Collider