Keeping It Heel
Fansided

UNC Basketball: Former Tar Heel joins Big3 draft pool

By Blake Cockrum

DETROIT - APRIL 04: (R-L) Tyler Hansbrough #50, Ty Lawson #5, Deon Thompson #21, Wayne Ellington #22 and Danny Green #14 of the North Carolina Tar Heels huddle while taking on the Villanova Wildcats during the National Semifinal game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship at Ford Field on April 4, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
DETROIT - APRIL 04: (R-L) Tyler Hansbrough #50, Ty Lawson #5, Deon Thompson #21, Wayne Ellington #22 and Danny Green #14 of the North Carolina Tar Heels huddle while taking on the Villanova Wildcats during the National Semifinal game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship at Ford Field on April 4, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Former UNC basketball standout Ty Lawson has thrown his name into the 2022 Big3 draft pool.

Former University of North Carolina basketball standout Ty Lawson will join the Big3 league following a somewhat turbulent and tumultuous stretch overseas.

Founded by actor and hip hop icon Ice Cube, the Big3 is a 3-on-3 basketball league that is comprised of 12 teams whose rosters are made up of former NBA players, international stars, and college standouts. Despite his lack of success and continuity in recent years, there’s little doubt that Lawson will be a high draft pick this year for a team looking to make a deep run.

Lawson hasn’t played professional basketball since averaging an outstanding 27.3 points, 8.7 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game with the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association. That was before being permanently banned from the league following social media posts that were deemed inappropriate and insensitive.

Lawson then tried to play in both Greece and Puerto Rico but both of those attempts were mired in strange circumstances, too, including a brief period of time in which he was unable to leave China when his travel VISA was denied.

Prior to leaving the United States, Lawson played for four teams over an eight-year span in the NBA. The six seasons that he spent with the Denver Nuggets from 2009 to 2015 were the highlight of his career, which was primarily cut short by off-court issues. Lawson averaged 12.7 points, six assists, and 2.7 rebounds in 551 career NBA games.

That followed a sensational three-year college career at the University of North Carolina — one that many UNC fans view as the best in program history from a point guard — that saw him win a number of prestigious honors including second-team All-American, first-team All-ACC, and ACC Player of the Year. He won the Bob Cousy Award as a junior and helped lead the Tar Heels to the 2009 national title.

Follow us @KeepingItHeel on Twitter and like our fan page on Facebook for continued coverage of UNC basketball news, views, and recruiting updates.

Home/UNC Basketball