Could three-on-three join the Olympic lineup?
LONDON – Could three-on-three basketball be coming to the Olympics?
Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports
If three-on-three basketball is added to the Olympic program, it likely will be no less intense than the action in this game between the USA and Argentina.
It will if FIBA, the international governing body, has its way. Secretary-general Patrick Baumann said Saturday that his group planned to propose it to be played as early as the 2016 Rio Games.
Three-on-three, the game played in driveways, on playgrounds and around the country during the annual Gus Macker tournaments, debuted in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. FIBA wants to create a comprehensive ranking system that would determine the best three-on-three teams in the world. FIBA already has a three-on-three world tour and world championship, but Baumann welcomed all three-on-three tournaments, such as Gus Macker and Hoop It Up, into the fold as long as those tournaments adhered to FIBA rules, including the registration of players in a database to chart wins and losses.
"Like volleyball has beach volleyball, swimming has synchronized swimming, we want three-on-three to be part of it," Baumann said.
After rankings determine the top teams worldwide, Baumann said, each nation would be responsible for creating a format to determine which team it would send to the Olympics.
Baumann reasoned that three-on-three would allow more countries to experience the Olympics and help FIBA expand basketball's global popularity. He said smaller basketball nations regularly send teams to the three-on-three world championship.
"We've chosen three-on-three as being one way of bringing that community into the Games," he said. "For us, this is also really about growing the mass of players on a grass-roots basis. We want them to be part of the family and hopefully have new talents for the game."
