For the second time in history, 3×3 basketball will be on the Olympic programme. In Paris in 2024, new medals will be awarded in this discipline. Discover the history of this sport and its rules.
From July 30 to August 5, the Place de la Concorde in Paris will be transformed into playgrounds, or in good French, playing fields. They will host 3×3 basketball, which is making its appearance for the second time in history at the Olympic Games. And for good reason: its history is particularly recent. While the practice first developed unofficially in the streets, the official creation of this sport came in 2010 when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to test this discipline at the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Two years later, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) launched the first men’s and women’s 3×3 world championships.
The French Basketball Federation (FIBB) is following in FIBA’s footsteps by organizing the 3×3 Superleague, which has brought together tournaments across France since 2012. In 2017, this sport took a huge turn by officially becoming an Olympic discipline from 2020. 3×3 basketball is often considered the most popular urban sport in the world.
Rules very different from traditional basketball
Unlike five-on-five basketball, three-on-three varies. While the skills required are the same, the rules are very different. Two teams of three players compete on a 15 × 11 m half-court. Only one basket is involved. One team defends and the other attacks depending on who has possession. The game ends after ten minutes or if one team has reached 21 points. Shots from outside the arc are worth two points, compared to three in a traditional basketball game. Inside the arc, one point is awarded for a basket. If there is a tie after 10 minutes, overtime begins and the first team to reach two points wins.
The ball is size 6, the size of a women’s basketball ball, but the weight is that of a men’s basketball. And precisely for the conquest of the latter, everything begins with a toss. No jump ball, but the team that wins the toss can decide to have the first possession or to leave it to its opponent. The attacking team only has twelve seconds to play and try to score a basket. If the defending team recovers, it must go out of the arc to start attacking in turn. In addition to the three players present on the court, a substitute can enter when the game is stopped. This can be done after a timeout, for example. Each coach only has one. As for fouls, players are not directly penalized individually unless they commit two unsportsmanlike fouls. In this case, they are excluded. On the other hand, six team fouls necessarily lead to two free throws for the team that suffered them.
During the Tokyo Olympics In 2021, Latvia won the men’s tournament while the United States won the women’s tournament. Who will succeed these two nations? The answer from July 30.