3x3 basketball is added to the Olympics - 3x3 basketball events for kids and young adults

In a move that was widely expected, 3×3 basketball has been added to the Olympics from Tokyo 2020 onwards. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the decision to add 3×3 and other sports and disciplines today.

The IOC announcement also included an introduction to the discipline by top 3×3 player Dusan Bulut from Serbia.
Even the king, LeBron James was asked about it in the NBA Finals post game four press conference. He said “I think it’s great for basketball. For us to be able to add another category to the Olympics, another basketball category, I think it’s pretty great.”

NBA Twitter Feed with Lebron James reaction to 3x3 being added to the Olympics — NBA Twitter Feed with Lebron James reaction to 3×3 being added to the Olympics

So the next logical question to LBJ was “Would you take part?”

Unfortunately not; he said “I’m not very good in a 3on3 thing. I’m more of a 5on5 guy.”

Well let’s just wait and see on that one – you never know.

Basketball now joins other team sports such as Volleyball to have two disciplines of the same sport on the Olympic schedule. It is the culmination of the meteoric rise of 3×3 since its introduction at the 2010 Youth Olympics.

It now remains to be seen how 3×3 will develop now that Olympic medals are at stake. Will 5v5 players, who may have dismissed it in the past, now look at it as a route to the Olympic podium? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, all of a sudden the Olympics have just increased its appeal to a whole new band of young players around the world.

There are definite differences with 3×3 play compared to 5v5. For a start, the traditional positions of point guard, forward and centre are simply not relevant in 3×3. The best 3×3 players are a hybrid of all 3 being able to dribble, pass, shoot and rebound. 3x3bllers suspects 3×3 will become a specialist event for a new breed of basketballer.

An intriguing plot line to follow is who will become the 3×3 global powerhouses? Up till now smaller nations have done extremely well in 3×3. This has allowed countries as small as the likes of Andorra to make an international impression. That is one of the reasons 3x3ballers has been encouraging GB Basketball to look seriously at 3×3 as a development pathway for the sport in the UK.

FIBA, basketball’s world governing body, has not yet announced the competition format or how teams will qualify for the Olympics.