The BIG3 made a lot of noise this off-season for various reasons. Among them was the talent pool announced for the upcoming 2025 season. The league is heading into its eighth season and this is the best group of players to join yet. The BIG3 managed to get a Basketball Hall of Famer to go along with another NBA All-Star and various award winners to be a part of this historic season. This attests to how much the league has grown over time. These are some pretty exciting names and with the talent joining this season, this is bound to be the best BIG3 Basketball season yet. The campaign kicks off on June 14.
BIG3 Basketball: Former NBA Players to Join the League
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Dwight Howard
The biggest name to join the BIG3 not only for the upcoming season but in the history of the league is eight-time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard. His announcement in April sent waves through the basketball world. He spent 18 seasons in the NBA and, in addition to his eight All-Star selections, was named to five All-Defensive Teams and was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. Howard also led the league in total rebounds five times and twice in blocks.
Howard won his first and only NBA Championship in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers and was just named to the 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame. Before he’s inducted, he will make one last pit stop in the BIG3, where he announced that it would be his final season of pro basketball. Howard will play for the Los Angeles Riot, who is coached by another former Laker, Nick Young. The league is expanding in big ways and getting a Hall of Famer will bring even more eyes to the BIG3.
Kemba Walker
The BIG3 will get another multi-time NBA All-Star in Kemba Walker, who has joined the Chicago Triplets. He last played in the NBA in the 2022-23 season but only played nine games after being waived by the Dallas Mavericks. He then played overseas for a season until announcing his retirement from pro basketball last summer. Just a day later he was hired by the Charlotte Hornets as a Player Enhancement Coach.
Despite announcing his retirement, Walker announced this past April that he would join the BIG3 in 2025. Walker brings his four-time NBA All-Star experience to the BIG3, who at the time was the second big name to commit to the league. The excitement kicked up yet another notch with the addition of Walker, who just turned 35 years old earlier in May.
Lance Stephenson
If the excitement level for the 2025 BIG3 season wasn’t through the roof already, it is now with the announcement of NBA veteran Lance Stephenson joining the league. Unlike Howard and Walker, Stephenson was a part of the 2025 BIG3 Draft.
He got drafted number one overall by Miami 305 and joins the likes of Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley…… for now (Beasley may seek trade due to the Stephenson pick). Nevertheless, Stephenson embodies what BIG3 Basketball is all about, toughness and grit. He’s one of the most entertaining players to play the game and he’s a perfect fit for the league.
Wesley Johnson
Wesley Johnson was drafted with the fourth overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. Fast forward to 2025 and Johnson again was drafted with the fourth overall pick, this time in the BIG3 Draft by the Riot. He will join Howard in what will be a stacked team.
The 37-year-old spent nine seasons in the NBA and was named to the All-Rookie Team in 2010-11. Before that, he was a consensus All-American for Syracuse the year before. Johnson is currently a Player Development Assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers, a team he spent three seasons with. The NBA veteran has plenty of experience and will use that in a league full of talent.
Montrezl Harrell
Another pair of newcomers to the BIG3 will pair up, this time Walker and Montrezl Harrell with the Triplets. Both were also named co-captains for the team coached by the one and only “Dr. J” Julius Irving.
Harrell was known for his big-time play off of the bench over his NBA career, winning the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2019-2020. He finished in the top ten three other times, with one of them being top three and all in a four year stretch from 2019-2022. In those four years, he averaged over 13 points a game, including 18.6 points per game in his Sixth Man of the Year campaign. Harrell finished up with the NBA in 2023-24 and averaged 12.1 points per game on 61.9 percent shooting.
Main Image: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
