Olympics 2020

Let’s Hoop! 3-on-3 Basketball Is the Olympics’ Pickup Game

2 min read
FILE - In this July 29, 2019, file photo, Olivia Nelson, right, of the United States, drives around Evelyn Mariano, of Brazil, during the women's basketball 3x3 semifinal match at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. The Olympics website calls 3x3 basketball “exciting, urban and innovative.” It was added to the program for Tokyo to lure a younger audience and get more countries involved in one of the core sports of the Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File)

The latest stop on the perennial search for the younger, attention-span-challenged audience for the Olympics might look familiar -- the blacktop, and 3-on-3 basketball.

Not a pickup game, mind you. Once the Olympics gets hold of this version of street hoops, it will only share a faint resemblance to anything happening on an urban playground.

For one, there will be no Americans -- at least none playing in the men's tournament. Another difference is that these games will have refs, a scoreboard and each team gets one sub.

But some of it might look familiar. Games are first to 21 (Or whoever is winning after 10 minutes.) Teams have to clear the ball back to around the 3-point line after rebounds. Inside buckets are worth one, and "3s" are worth two. The teams have coaches but they are for behind-the-scenes stuff, not allowed on the court.

"For me, the best thing is, it's always been fun to play," said Dusan Bulut, widely considered the best in the world, who will lead Serbia into the tournament as a favorite.

WHO'S THERE

In addition to trying to capture more young eyes, one of the IOC's stated missions in bringing 3-on-3 basketball to the big stage was to expose more of the world to the sport. In at least one respect, this mission has been accomplished. Mongolia will bring one of the eight teams in the women's field.

Mongolia is not a newcomer to the Olympics, but it has always fielded competitors in individual sports, such as wrestling and boxing. This will be the first time the country has entered a team sport into the Summer Games.

WHO'S NOT

It seemed a foregone conclusion that the U.S. would field a team in the sport it invented. Not to be on the men's side.

Unlike the 5-on-5 version, a win at the World Cup for the U.S. in 2019 did not secure an Olympic spot.

Starting at /week.