In his spare time, ex-Mavs guard Corey Brewer doing his thing in the Big 3

FRISCO – The basketball bug is still biting Corey Brewer.

After playing 12 seasons in the NBA, Brewer has spent the past two years as a player development and assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans. But he’s also playing in the Big 3 while rekindling the fire in his belly as a basketball player.

“I still want to play,” said Brewer, 36. “I still have that competitive fire in me.

“Coaching is a little different, because you don’t get to play all the time. You’re trying to teach guys how to play and to help them out. I still feel I’m in great shape.”

Brewer played a key role off the bench for the Dallas Mavericks when they captured the 2011 NBA title.  The Minnesota Timberwolves traded Brewer to the New York Knicks on Feb. 22, 2011. But on March 1, 2011, the Knicks waived Brewer after he never played a game for them.

Two days later, the Mavs signed Brewer to a three-year, $8 million contract. And a little over three months later, Brewer and the Mavs were NBA champions.

“I remember coming from Minnesota, and I had never been in the playoffs,” Brewer told Mavs.com. “And just to come to a different atmosphere in Dallas where every night you’re expected to win, and then when we got in the playoffs, it was an amazing run.”

It was amazing for Brewer because he was in his fourth season, and suddenly he was an NBA champion and a teammate of future Hall of Fame players Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd.

“You get to play with Dirk, of course, and J-Kidd and Shawn Marion and Jason Terry, Tyson Chandler and Peja Stojakovic,” Brewer said. “Playing with guys who had been in the league for a while – I was in my third or fourth year – they had been doing it for a long time at a high level.

“So just to learn from those guys and be around those guys, I think it helped me in my career.”

As far as his “career” in the Big 3 is concerned, one of Brewer’s teammates is former Mavs guard Gerald Green. And their coach is Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton.

“We usually have a practice the day before a game,” Brewer said. “And Gary Payton is our coach, so he does everything.

“Any time he says something, you’ve got to listen because he is a Half of Famer.”

Brewer’s Big 3 team is named Bivouac and will next play on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Comerica Center against the Killer 3s, which are led by former Mavs forward Josh Powell and coached by ex-NBA player Charles Oakley.

“We’re 2-3 right now,” Brewer said. “We’re in the playoff hunt, still.

“We need to win next week to have a chance, but it’s been good.”

The obvious difference between the NBA and the Big 3 is that the latter is played on half-a-court. Another difference?

“It’s a lot more physical (than the NBA),” Brewer said. “The Big 3 is physical.

“There’s a lot of talented guys and a lot of guys who have played in the NBA before, so it’s good basketball.”

And that’s not all.

“The floor is a lot more open,” Brewer said. “There are only three guys (per team) on the court, so it’s a lot more space.”

Brewer retired from the NBA after the 2019-’20 Covid-shortened season at the age of 34. But he frequently wonders if his retirement was premature.

“I feel like I can still play (in the NBA),” he said. “It’s one of those things where I decided to coach.

“Once you make the decision, for me it’s one of those things where I made the decision and you can’t think about it.”

But Brewer definitely thinks about his (championship) tenure with the Mavs. It turned into a career-changing moment for him.

Twitter: @DwainPrice