Philly native Cuttino Mobley set to play in the Big3′s championship game

Cuttino Mobley hasn’t lost a step.

The 11-year NBA pro via Cardinal Dougherty High School and the University of Rhode Island is 46 years old with a gray beard and set to play in the Big3′s championship game on Sunday. Mobley’s Team Power will face Team Trilogy at 5 p.m. from State Farm Arena in Atlanta streaming on CBS and Paramount+.

Big3 is a three-on-three basketball league that was founded in 2017 by musical artist and actor Ice Cube. It has since expanded to 12 teams featuring a bevy of former NBA and other professional players.

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Mobley, who most famously played for the Rockets and Clippers, helped lead his team to a 5-3 record, knifing their way to Power’s second championship appearance. He tallied 50 points and 20 rebounds on 40% shooting from the field, including 44% from range this season.

The Philadelphia native was forced into an early retirement from the NBA in 2008, 19 days after being introduced as the newest New York Knick. He was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy — the same heart condition that killed Hank Gathers and Danny Rumph.

He was unable to salvage his NBA career but spent time outpacing Father Time, playing wherever he could, most notably Los Angeles’ premier summer Pro-Am, Drew League.

The 2022 iteration of Power saw some turnover from last year. Mobley, who is the team’s captain, and Royce White are the only returners. Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Glen Rice, and T.J. Cline make up the rest of the group. They’re coached by Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman, Cline’s mother.

Rice is the team’s leading scorer with 140 total points to go along with 50 boards and 26 assists.

Trilogy is chasing its third championship, now led by Roselle Catholic grad Isaiah Briscoe and Big3 veteran and former Temple Owl David Hawkins. It’s the only team in league history to secure two Dr. J Trophies.

Power’s last championship appearance was in 2018 behind a near perfect 7-1 record. They defeated 3′s Company courtesy of a Mobley game-winner. He cleared out the floor and backed down his defender in open space. A 12-foot turnaround jumper sealed the league’s second championship.

Mobley mustered 96 points, 40 rebounds, and 15 assists that season while shooting a staggering 47%.

The rules of Big3 slightly differ from FIBA’s three-on-three contests. Made shots are worth two and three points, as opposed to one and two in FIBA. Big3 also has three four-point zones in circles 30 feet from the basket. And rather than a timed clock, games are first to 50 and teams must win by at least two points.

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Sunday’s championship festivities will also feature a celebrity game. Ice Cube will coach one team. The other is being manned by four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski.

While Mobley continues to make an impact on the floor in the 5-year-old league, he has made a parallel move to coaching and teaching the game. His social media presence has become abundant with life and fatherly advice.

He’s even starting a podcast called “Dad’s Point of View.”

“People watching Dad’s Point of View, what I want them to be able to experience and feel is the authentic self,” Mobley said in an Instagram post. “Whoever that is sitting in front of the camera. Whether that’s myself or the guest. Whether it’s being anxious, nervous, sad, crying, or humble.”

He also posts his fair share of clips from time spent working out. Mobley’s familiar lefty jumper looks as smooth as it always has. Even going viral in a pickup game against NBA stars DeMar DeRozan and Christian Wood.

That jumper will be put to the test again on Sunday chasing his second Big3 title.