Big Three basketball opens its 2026 season Saturday at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, and Miami 305 starts its title defense after winning the 2025 league crown. The league's ninth season begins with a four-game slate that gives fans and bettors their first look at the new year.
Miami 305 Starts Over
Michael Cooper brings back the full Miami 305 roster, with Mario Chalmers, Michael Beasley, Lance Stephenson, Reggie Evans and Sean Williams all returning. Miami 305 beat the same opponent in last year's opener by a 50-44 score, so the first game again gives the defending champion a clean baseline for its 2026 campaign.
That opening slate also kicks off weekly betting coverage for Week 1, with quick-hit picks built around DraftKings and FanDuel Sportsbook odds. For readers tracking the league from the start, Saturday is the first chance to sort out which teams look settled and which lineups are still taking shape.
Trilogy, Detroit And The Riot
Stephen Jackson's Trilogy enters after a 2-6 finish in 2025, but the roster now centers on James Johnson, Jaylen Johnson and Jordan McCrae. Willie Reed and Earl Clark round out that group, and Clark adds the weight of being a two-time BIG3 champion.
Detroit brings Charles Garcia and Donte Greene, with Dakarai Tucker replacing Joe Johnson after Johnson suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 of last season and will continue to recover throughout the 2026 campaign. Donte Greene was the BIG3's fifth all-time leading scorer, which gives Detroit a proven scoring layer even before the first tip of the new season.
Kosta Koufos And Week 1
The Riot have Dwight Howard and Jordan Crawford at the top of the roster, with Kosta Koufos, Billy Preston and Chris Allen filling out the group. Koufos adds size and experience as a seven-footer and a 10-year NBA veteran, but he will miss the first two games because of a back strain.
That leaves the Riot to open without one of their bigger frontcourt pieces, while the rest of Week 1 still rolls forward on Saturday in Los Angeles. The opener slate is the first hard checkpoint of the 2026 season, and it will show which returning cores are ready immediately and which ones need time to settle in.
