The International Olympic Committee’s 2017 decision to add 3×3 to next year’s Tokyo Games has brought the sport full circle. Now, USA Basketball is trying to keep up with other countries that have dominated this branch of the sport in recent years.
The U.S. was not among 20 countries to compete in the 2018 FIBA 3×3 World Cup men’s competition, largely due to a complicated qualifying process that involves accruing points at FIBA-approved 3×3 tournaments around the globe, many of which occur at inopportune times for top U.S. collegiate and professional players.
USA Basketball has partnered with Red Bull to fix that, launching a series of qualifying tournaments with the goal of determining the four-player men’s and women’s rosters that will represent their country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with the requisite number of FIBA points. The Red Bull USA Basketball 3X qualifiers will be held in 23 cities across the country this summer, starting in Detroit on June 22, followed by a series of regional tournaments this fall and nationals in March 2020.
