Almost two years after playing in his last NBA game, Drew Gooden has agreed to play for Allen Iverson's team, 3's Company, in the second BIG3 season this summer. They'll team up with former NBA players Baron Davis and DerMarr Johnson.

Gooden played 14 NBA seasons, averaging 11.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for the Grizzlies, Magic, Cavaliers, Bulls, Kings, Spurs, Mavericks, Clippers, Bucks and Wizards. He was a key member of the LeBron James-led Cavs that made it to the NBA Finals in 2007.

The BIG3 is a three-on-three basketball league featuring ex-NBA players founded by Ice Cube. The league had its inaugural season last year, and has already received commitments from multiple players for the upcoming season, including Chauncey Billups, Stephen Jackson, Metta World Peace and Nate Robinson, to name a few.

Gooden said he watched every game of the BIG3's first season, and became a huge fan. He enjoyed watching his former teammates and opponents play, and some of them (Corey Maggette and Al Harrington, as well as league commissioner Roger Mason) even recruited Gooden to play last year.

"I kind of was a little reluctant because, for one, I hadn't played in a couple years," Gooden told CBS Sports. "A part of me was like, maybe I'm not even in shape or maybe I'm not even ready or the same guy out there, and I think that's what kind of kept me from doing it last year."

drewgooden-020218.jpg
Gooden's NBA career ended with a three-year stint with the Wizards from 2013-16. USATSI

So what changed for Gooden this time around?

"After watching the aftermath of the first season and seeing how much of a success it was and seeing how much bigger it could actually get, I kind of didn't want to sit there with my hands under my waist," Gooden said. "I kind of wanted to get up and help something that was positive, something I thought that was moving forward and a product I was actually a fan of. I didn't want to sit on my hands by the wayside and not help my fellow friends and kind of help Ice Cube grow this product and kind of be involved."

As far as playing with Iverson (who predominantly coached last season), Davis and Johnson, Gooden thinks he's a good fit for the team, but is reserving judgment until the foursome actually gets on the court together.

"I don't know yet," Gooden said when asked if he was excited to play with his new teammates. "We'll know after the first game."

Gooden will judge himself against BIG3 talent that plays the same position that he does -- players like Rashard Lewis and Al Harrington, who he says had great seasons last year. Gooden is 100 percent certain of one thing, though: He's ready to test out one of the BIG3's most attractive novelties, the 4-point shot.

"I've been working on my range out there in Curry land, in the 4-point shot land," Gooden said. "That's kind of where my workout has been now. A regular 3-point shot is a little too close for me now."

Gooden said that the "tweener" designation that he faced as a 6-10 forward coming out of Kansas used to be seen as a negative, but that type of versatility is valued in today's game. He thinks that he would have started shooting 3-pointers much earlier in his career, and would have thrived had he come into the league today rather than in 2002.

Unfortunately Gooden fell one year short of reaching his goal of playing 15 NBA seasons, but he said he has no illusions of getting that final season under his belt after a strong performance in the BIG3.

"If a team is dumb enough, if I can trick them, and they're dumb enough to think I can still compete at a high level in the NBA, I might look at it," Gooden said. "But I'm doing the BIG3 for the camaraderie around my friends, my past teammates, my past opponents. I've probably been teammates with half of that BIG3 league, or known them since high school.

"This is kind of like the senior PGA golf tour I just joined. I'm Lee Trevino."