OAKLAND — Ice Cube is on the line and the rapper wants the people of Oakland to know how grateful he remains for all those times they showed up at his performances back in the day.

“They’ve always supported me as an artist since I started,” he said. “I feel like I owe Oakland a game. I feel like I’m bringing something great to Oakland as a thank you.”

Ice Cube’s payback comes in the form of Big3 basketball, a 3-on-3 half-court league he co-founded last year. The eight-team league featuring retired NBA stars such as Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson visits Oracle Arena for the first time Friday.

And Cube, the musician, writer and actor, figures the action will ease the suffering of anyone going through hoops withdrawals since the Warriors’ victory parade.

“They’re loving basketball in Oakland right now,” he said. “It’s probably the best thing that the people can really rally around as a city.”

The league offers some familiar faces to the Bay Area. Rick Barry is the head coach of a team called the Ball Hogs (never mind that the Hall of Famer finished in the NBA’s top 10 for assists six times while with the Warriors.)

Amy Trask, the former Raiders CEO, is the Big3 league’s chairman of the board. (“And don’t forget the ‘Princess of Darkness,”’ she said when I asked about her return to Oakland.)

Other players include former Sacramento Kings guard Mike Bibby, as well as East Bay natives such as Drew Gooden and Gary Payton (coach of the 3-Headed Monsters).

After starting as something of an experiment a year ago, the Big3 found an audience last summer, in part because players battled more ferociously than fans expected. Players view this league as a chance to get back on an NBA roster, and they compete that way.

During a stop in Chicago last Friday, Davis had 27 points and 5 rebounds. Jackson had 28 points (including five 3-pointers) and 7 rebounds.

“This is not ‘Old Man Basketball,’ ” said Clyde Drexler, the Hall of Famer and commissioner for Big3. “These are guys who can still play at an NBA level. So we’re hoping that a bunch of these guys will be re-launched back into the NBA.”

The Big3 added a few more notable players for 2018, including Amar’e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Metta World Peace and Nate Robinson. Games that used to air on tape-delay now go live on FOX, FS1 and/or Facebook.

A pro tip for anyone going to Oracle? Keep an eye on the oldest player in the league: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf of the 3-Headed Monsters. The former Denver Nuggets star, at 49, continues to defy both time and gravity.

Just ignore that gray in his beard.

“Oh, my God,” Barry said. “I can’t believe he still has the athleticism he does for a guy his age. He’s rock solid. He’s an example of what you can do if you take care of yourself.”

While most of the players have NBA experience, there’s a playground element to the rules. There is no game clock, for example. The winner is the first team to score 50 (gotta win by at least two) and halftime comes when a team reaches 25.

The 3-point distance is the same as in the NBA, but there are also a trio of 4-point zones 30 feet away from the basket. The shot clock is only 14 seconds.

Cube, as his fellow league executives call him, stresses that the style of play during this 10-week season isn’t always full of offensive razzle-dazzle. To the contrary, he said, this is no NBA All-Star Game where defense is optional. Of note: former enforcers Rick Mahorn and Charles Oakley are among the league’s coaches.

“It’s very rough in the paint. That’s how these guys like and want to play,” Cube said.

There are five Hall of Famers coaching in the league, including former NBA stars Barry, Payton, George Gervin and Julius Erving. The fifth is Nancy Lieberman, who took over the Power this season after Drexler vacated the job to become league commissioner.

Lieberman’s team, off to a 2-0 start, includes Corey Maggette, Cuttino Mobley and Chris “Birdman” Andersen. She was a three-time All-American and two-time Olympian as a player before becoming a head coach for the Dallas Mavericks’ minor league affiliate and also in the WNBA. Lieberman was an assistant for the Sacramento Kings.

“There is not one person involved with, associated with, or part of the Big3 that considers Nancy a ‘female head coach,’ ” Trask said.

“We consider her a head coach. It is a privilege and a pleasure to work with men like Ice Cube and (co-founder) Jeff Kwatinetz and Clyde Drexler, who don’t give a darn – and I’m only saying darn so you can use it –about race, gender, ethnicity, religion or any other individuality that has no bearing whatsoever on whether she can do a job. And you know what? Our players don’t care, either.”

Along with four games a night during the regular-season stops, players and coaches participate in charity events in each city. They host basketball clinics, refurbish courts and try to spread the gospel of the 3-on-3 format.

“There are things we want to do in the communities other than bring games,” Cube said. “We want to leave the communities better than we found them.”

The Oakland visit marks the third week of the season. Asked about the anticipated attendance at Oracle, a league official pointed to the 16,341 at the Toyota Center in Houston for Week 1 and the 14,675 fans at the United Center in Chicago for Week 2.

Trask expects big crowds in Oakland.

“It is a tremendous basketball town. It’s a tremendous sports town,” she said. “And to bring a game there and jump into that enthusiasm is very, very exciting for us.”