RIO DE JANEIRO — The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is making another push to include 3-on-3 basketball in the Olympics, FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann told USA TODAY Sports.
Baumann said the International Olympic Committee will decide in June if 3-on-3 will be played at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
I don’t think 3-on-3 basketball is close to necessary (as far as any sport is “necessary”), but I’m here for it.
Could players double-dip and play both 5-on-5 and 3-on-3 and win medals in both events? How would the U.S. balance talent on both teams? Would the U.S. seek 3-on-3 chemistry by using players on the same NBA team (maybe LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love – or, in a troll move, LeBron, Irving and Tristan Thompson)? Would the 3-on-3 teams have backups? Would another country without the depth to compete with Team USA focus on 3-on-3 (maybe Italy with Danilo Gallinari, Marco Belinelli and Andrea Bargnani)?
I’d love to wade through all these questions and more. Sadly, I doubt this gets approved.
