​As I’ve written about here before, I’m obsessed with sports logos. As a kid, I was especially in awe of throwback logos. The history of what teams used to wear always pulled me in, especially as I saw some of the wacky, cartoony, and colorful logos of the past. On the flip side of admiring vintage logos, opportunities to observe new logos hot off the presses are few and far between. Sure, you may get the occasional expansion franchise or witness an existing team’s rebranding, but you rarely see a new league with multiple teams unveiling their logos all at once. Lucky for us, the new BIG3 basketball league gives us that chance this year.
 
A staple of asphalt hoops all around the country, three-on-three basketball is surging to bigger stages in 2017. First, rapper/actor/legend/now sports mogul Ice Cube announced plans for a three-on-three basketball league featuring some of the greatest former NBA players. Allen Iverson, Chauncey Billups, Dr. J, Kenyon Martin, fan-favorite Brian Scalabrine, Clyde Drexler, and more are all joining the BIG3 league as players and/or coaches. Then, the International Olympic Committee announced the addition of three-on-three basketball to the Summer Olympics beginning in 2020. The sport is booming, but that’s a story for another time. For now, I’m going to dig into the BIG3’s team names and logos. 

It’s fitting that team names and logos never seen before belong to a league with a revolutionary take on professional basketball.  To see these logos and the legends repping them in action, check out the BIG3 starting on June 25th, televised on Fox Sports. 

Return of the Jedi or Matrix Revolutions?
Back to the Future Part III or Little Fockers?
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade or X-Men: The Last Stand?
 
For every great third installment in a trilogy or movie series, there is a complete and utter disaster. As many predicted early in the season, 28 teams didn’t matter much at all. The 82 regular season games and the slew of anticlimactic playoff matchups felt more like movie previews than a cinematic feature of their own. As it was scripted, two powerhouses emerged mostly unscathed. Now, the 2017 NBA Finals present the viewing audience with the long-awaited and much-expected part three of the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers trilogy.
 
At this rate, it feels like we could be headed for the NBA equivalent of Ben Stiller’s Scorcher franchise. 'The world called on him once more...and no one saw it coming…. THREE. MORE. TIMES!' There’s nothing inherently wrong with dynasties; some of the most exciting eras of basketball came about when a given team was dominant. With the Bulls of the 90's, the Bad Boy Pistons, Lakers v. Celtics, and the Spurs in the 00's, basketball has always had plenty of teams that would take over the league for a few years running. But the Warriors-Cavs threepeat doesn’t feel quite the same. 
 
Perhaps it’s because of how the two teams got to the Finals this year, dismantling their opponents in the first three rounds for a combined 24-1 record. Matchups that lopsided tend to diminish any potential for excitement. Maybe it’s because of their likeability. Everyone in the 90's loved M.J.; not everyone today loves King James. Not many people like the idea of buying superstars and assembling super-teams. It could be because those teams of the past took on all comers, the parity in the challengers from year to year setting up quite a bit of drama and questions of whether the potential dynasty could fend off a new opponent.
 
Whatever the reasons may be basketball fans are hoping that this year’s matchup is more like Toy Story 3 and a lot less like Spider-Man 3. We’ll need that to save us from the train wreck of a postseason that just happened. So get your popcorn ready for Warriors v. Cavaliers, for the third year in a row. 'Only this time… It’s different!' Who left the fridge open? 

The Golden State Warriors:
Here’s your scary thought of the day: this year’s Warriors may be the best iteration of the team yet – even better than the record-breaking team of last year and the championship team of the year before. That is in part due to the addition of superstar Kevin Durant. But even without K.D., Golden State is ridiculously deep with talent they’ve drafted and cultivated. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are splashing, Draymond Green is healthy and not suspended, and K.D. is hungry. Not to mention, it’d be pretty fun to see JaVale McGee get a ring.
 
This year’s Warriors are, surprisingly, a better shot than last year’s team, improving slightly in Field Goal % (.495 from .487) and in Points (9503 from 9421). They have dipped a bit in Three Point % (.383, down from .416), but they still have the ability to get hot from downtown. The aspect of their game that most lends itself to another Finals victory is the fact that they have a deep, capable roster with an assortment of situational lineups and matchup nightmares that the Cavaliers tend to be susceptible to.