The NBA's All-Star Game experiment paid off with the new rules revitalizing the game's competitiveness. Yet Ice Cube thinks the NBA got the idea to incorporate an Elam Ending from his BIG3 basketball league.
Prior to Sunday's game, the NBA sent out a tweet about the new All-Star Game rules.
"This year we’ve changed the game!" the league wrote.
Ice Cube caught wind of the post and replied in a way that alludes to the NBA stealing his innovative ideas.
"Oh really? Where should I send my invoice?" Cube wrote.
Chris Paul was the player that proposed the All-Star Game rule changes in 2018. Insiders claim Paul got the idea from The Basketball Tournament, which incorporates an Elam Ending. But since 2017, Ice Cube's BIG3 basketball league has been playing games determined by a target score instead of a game clock. Cube feels like the success of the BIG3 proved that the Elam Ending could work on a professional level.
"The forward thinking of @thebig3 is taking our credit for helping the @NBA make the 4thQ of yesterday’s ASG one to remember. Many will try to pull the Elam Rule out their asses, but we proved in 2017 that no game clock is the future," Cube wrote in another tweet before addressing comments about the Elam Ending being common in amateur basketball.
"Amateur basketball has been doing it forever, but we’re talking about the professionals, homie," Cube told a user. He continued going back and forth with commentators after that:
