3x3 basketball

3x3 basketball, variation of basketball played on a half-court between teams of three players. Pronounced “three-ex-three,” this condensed version of basketball was established as a professional sport in the early 21st century. The game focuses on speed, versatility, and agility more than on the endurance and methodical tactics of traditional 5x5 basketball.

History

Basketball was invented by John Naismith about 1891. From 1897 the game’s rules stipulated that five players per team on a full court with two baskets was the official standard, but amateurs playing the sport in parks and backyards often diverged from the textbook requirements. For example, sometimes only six people were present to play and only half-courts were available. It was out of this informal, “streetball” tradition in urban and semi-urban areas in the United States that 3x3 basketball emerged.

In the 1970s and ’80s basketball experienced a surge in popularity as star players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan entered the scene. About this time, 3x3 basketball began to be formalized, with its own set of rules and regulations, and to be featured in competitions. The first of these competitions, the Gus Macker 3on3 Basketball Tournament, started in 1974 in Lowell, Michigan, before growing into a nationwide event. In the late 1980s a tournament that became known as Hoop It Up was created by a Dallas businessman. That tournament eventually spread to multiple cities and countries, helping to further standardize the sport’s rules and elevate its prominence. The pop cultural success of the 1992 movie White Men Can’t Jump, which features recreational games resembling 3x3 basketball, also contributed to the sport’s growing profile.

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Azurá Stevens: 3x3 basketball

Official organization of 3x3 basketball came in 2007 when FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basketball) decided to mount its own tournament, at the Asian Indoor Games in Macau, China. The tournament was a success, leading to the inclusion of 3x3 basketball at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Two years later FIBA debuted its 3x3 World Cup as well as the World Tour, an international league featuring teams representing cities around the globe.

On June 9, 2017, the International Olympic Committee executive board announced its decision to add 3x3 basketball to the Olympic program, starting with the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The Games, which were delayed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, featured eight teams in each of the men’s and women’s tourneys. The Latvia men’s team and the U.S. women’s team won the first gold medals.

Certain players who have not succeeded in professional 5x5 leagues have found that 3x3 basketball better suited their abilities. For instance, in 2023 Jimmer Fredette, a former NBA player, led the U.S. men’s 3x3 team to a gold medal at the Pan American Games and a silver medal at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup.

Today several professional 3x3 basketball leagues and tournaments exist outside the Olympics and FIBA-sanctioned events. In 2017 American entertainer Ice Cube founded BIG3, a professional 3x3 league in the United States that features teams of former NBA and international players. Amateur competitions, such as the Gus Macker and Hoop It Up tournaments, also operate annually. Spokane Hoopfest is reportedly the largest such nonprofessional 3x3 basketball tournament in the world, having grown from 512 teams in its 1990 debut to more than 6,000 teams decades later.

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Court and ball size

FIBA 3x3 basketball is played on a court 11 meters (36.1 feet) long and 15 meters (49.2 feet) wide (which is slightly smaller than half of a traditional court) with a single basket that teams alternate attacking and defending. The court features a semicircular arc around the hoop with a 6.75-meter (22.2-foot) radius that divides the court in two zones: an area inside the arc, in which shots are worth one point, and an area outside the arc, in which shots are worth two points. The ball is 72.4 cm (28.5 inches) in diameter, the same size as the one used in the WNBA but slightly smaller than the ball (74.9 cm [29.5 inches]) used in the majority of professional men’s 5x5 leagues. The smaller size allows for easier ballhandling and encourages the fast pace of 3x3 basketball.

Rules and gameplay

Before the game begins, the first possession is decided with a coin flip. The team that wins the coin flip chooses whether it wants the ball at the start of the game or the start of a potential overtime period. The game opens with a “check,” wherein the defending team trades the ball to an offensive player just outside the middle of the arc. A team wins the game either by having the highest score after 10 minutes of play or by reaching 21 points, whichever comes first. If the score is tied at the end of regulation time, the game goes into overtime, in which the first team to score two points—or reach 21 if the score is tied at 20—wins.

Gameplay is extremely fast-paced. One of the quickest team competitions in the world, a 3x3 basketball game is sometimes referred to as “a 10-minute sprint.” Several factors contribute to the game’s speed, including a 12-second shot clock, which is half the duration of the clock in traditional 5x5. Additionally, play does not stop after a basket is made; instead, the team that was scored against begins its offensive possession as soon as one of its players brings the ball outside the arc. The game stops only during dead-ball situations (e.g., ball out-of-bounds, fouls, and free throws). Substitutions may occur without limit during stoppage of play; however, they cannot be made while the game is live. Fouls may result in change of possession, a single free throw, two free throws, or even two free throw attempts and subsequent change in possession.