On paper, the premise of BIG3, a professional basketball league conceived by Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz, shouldn’t work. The idea sounds half-baked: Let’s spend an afternoon watching a bunch of retired players jack up threes in half-court three-on-three.

Only something’s working. The league is drawing crowds everywhere they go, and in its second season, they’re providing exactly the kind of entertainment value hoops junkies are looking for in the summertime. (Unless you’re into four-hour baseball games that end at midnight.) The official slogan of BIG3 is we’re changing the game, but honestly, it could be marketed as in what other league will you hear the announcer say ‘Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf passes to Qyntel Woods for the game winning three!!!’ One thing working in favor of the BIG3 is how the league’s concept was conceived with the idea ratcheting up the entertainment value while trying to win over nostalgic hoops fans.

It might sound obvious, but starting a sports league isn’t as easy as it sounds. First, this league can’t compete directly with the NBA; just ask when the XFL tried to go head-to-head with the NFL. So, you set the league in the summertime, to start. Now you need players. And not just any players. You need names. You can’t get NBA players, so you spring for retired names. Metta World Peace and Stephen Jackson, the Malice at the Palace duo, reunite as teammates on a team called The Killer Three’s. Put Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Kwame Brown, and Qyntel Woods on a team called the 3-Headed Monsters, coached by Gary Payton.

And finally: the format. In a world where everything is available and our attention spans usually boils down to how often are you going to spend your time on the phone while you’re out, asking an audience to watch a 48-minute standard basketball game filled with retired players feels almost like a threat. So: three-on-three, half-court games with a 14 second shot clock. First to 50 points wins, and halftime is whenever one team reaches 25 points. And, because everyone is always talking about a four-point line in basketball, let’s throw in three spots on the court well beyond the arc that are worth four points.

Last Friday, BIG3 made its international debut in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre. It’s the middle of the season for the league, which starts in late June and runs through the end of August, where the championship game will be held in Brooklyn this summer. The nostalgia factor was high in the audience, which was a mix of basketball fans in their thirties and fourties who would definitely tell you why any Knicks-Heat game from the ‘90s was an example of the beautiful game, and a lot of families, older parents who have brought their kids along to give them a live sports experience they might otherwise not have access to, considering the higher price points that exist in the NBA and other leagues. A quick scan of throwback jerseys in the crowd included: Mike Bibby Sacramento Kings, Julius Erving Philadelphia 76ers, Gary Payton Seattle Supersonics and Metta World Peace Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Hughes Cleveland Cavaliers.