NEW YORK — A bunch of enormous 30- and 40-somethings dressed in basketball jerseys bounced around a surprisingly warm and humid room next to an ice rink at Chelsea Piers’ Sunset Terrace. And every time they saw someone new, their eyes lit up.

BIG3 media day felt almost like a high-school reunion. Former NBA players who hadn’t seen each other in five years or more hung around for team portraits and interview sessions, but mostly to catch up. Kwame Brown dropped in on an Allen Iverson group interview, and Charles Oakley reclined next to Larry Hughes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqgGmQR4Epo

Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 basketball league is actually here, and so are the players. The season opens Sunday at Barclays Center (1 p.m.; televised Monday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1), and good vibes are in the air. But questions still remain.

1. Will the players actually be in shape?

Iverson told For The Win that he had barely stepped on court in years before starting his training a month ago. A handful of other bigger names looked a bit out of shape, too.

But as a whole, the BIG3 made the smart decision to put non-captains through a draft combine and tryouts before selecting teams. That helped weed out players who simply weren’t ready to ball. There even are some younger guys still playing professionally overseas.

The issue is that it’s guys like Iverson who are the main draw. Will the stars be in shape? That’s a very different question than asking about the lesser-known players.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JHqo_N9F6I

2. What happens when you put 40-plus former NBA players together in a strange city for 10 consecutive weekends?

This sounds like a reality show, and it’s directly related to the question above. So we asked the players.

“The camaraderie is always the same,” Killer 3’s co-captain and known NBA partier Stephen Jackson told For The Win. “That’s the best part. We get to hang out, go to dinner, do things in different cities. That’s what we always do. That’s a big part of why guys joined, just to bring that camaraderie back.”

Trilogy captain Kenyon Martin promised heated games of boo-ray, but he said that older players won’t let it get as personal as they did when they were in their 20s. Others echoed the sentiment: The activities may not change much, but they will be handled with more maturity.

And maybe there’s an added benefit of this arrangement.

“It’s going to be more of a time for guys to get together and see what we’re doing off the basketball court, business and stuff,” Trilogy co-captain Al Harrington told For The Win. “A lot of synergy with stuff like that will be created.”

3. How long before a fight breaks out?

You know how retired players always say the NBA is soft now? That’s these guys. They’re passionate, they talk a ton of trash, and they don’t really have off-switches.

“It’s gonna be a physical team game,” former NBA rebounding machine Reggie Evans told For The Win. “You got physical players on the court, and you got physical coaches: Charles Oakley, Rick Mahorn. This ain’t for the weak.”

Over and over again, players said they only know how to play one way: hard. What will that look like from a bunch of 40-year-olds? The elbows may fly and complaints to the refs will be guaranteed. But expect a degree of chill and perspective, too.

4. Why wouldn’t everyone just take 4-pointers?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHMD8KJkoP4

Unlike FIBA-sanctioned 3-on-3, the BIG3 will be going by 2s and 3s. That’s a good thing. But there are three circles on the court that represent 4-point hot spots, like in NBA Jam.

Here’s the court:

Will any team look to frequently exploit that? If so, expect it to be the Ball Hogs, captained by Brian Scalabrine and including two of the league’s best shooters in Rasual Butler and Derrick Byars.

Still, every captain asked about the value of shooting responded the same: They don’t think this league will be defined by it the same way games scored by 1s and 2s can be. Instead, they expect isolation play and toughness to be the main factors.

“I built my team as far as guys who were good one-on-one and could break down their guy,” Ghost Ballers captain Mike Bibby told For The Win.

5. Will people watch a tape-delayed sporting event?

Ice Cube knows that he needs this first season to be a success. He hopes that it runs smoothly enough to attract the interest of even bigger names and better players. Think Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and maybe even Kobe Bryant. (Several players told For The Win they doubt Bryant would play in this league.)

A key piece of that is making sure people watch the league. That’s what made the decision to go with tape-delayed primetime coverage an interesting one, as we wrote about back when the agreement with Fox Sports 1 was reached.

On one hand, this should help present the league as more organized even if things pop up in the early weeks. On the other, the U.S. sports audience hates tape-delayed events. The key will be putting together a good-enough product. That comes back to the previous four questions.

The BIG3 is an exciting thing for the basketball world. Everyone hopes it succeeds. That doesn’t make it an easy process.

Ice Cube and business partner Jeff Kwatinetz came up with this league about a year ago. They somehow were able to use their personalities and purchasing power to turn around a fully formed league in that short span. And players repeatedly praised the league’s professionalism and organization as much as its concept. It’s impressive but also a risk. Hopefully one worth taking.