MESA, Arizona — One of the newer sports in the upcoming summer Olympics is 3x3 basketball. It was featured as an Olympic sport for the first time at the Tokyo games in 2021 but this summer in Paris, the United States men will make their Olympic debut and they have a shot at making some history. The team opened training camp at Mesa High School where 12News caught up with the team exclusively.
Physical, high-scoring, volatile, are words the players and head coach of Team USA’s men’s 3x3 basketball team used to describe the sport. They likened it to a gladiator sport and basketball on steroids. Besides the number of people on the court, the rules and pacing of 3x3 basketball is different from the typical five-on-five style American basketball fans are used to seeing.
“There’s not many dead balls unless there's a foul or it goes out of bounds. The ball does not stop. You just throw it back out to the three point lines keep playing,” Team USA player Jimmer Fredette said. “I've been fortunate to have a great career and accomplish some things. But this would be the cherry on top, obviously, to be able to go to the Olympics and bring home a medal.”
In 2011, Fredette was one of the most electrifying players in college with “Jimmer Mania” taking March Madness and the country by storm during his time at BYU. These days Fredette is a dedicated husband and father who’s focused on winning gold at the 2024 Olympics with USA basketballs 3x3 team.
“Usually when you think of Olympic basketball you think of five-on-five, right? It's the 10 best NBA players in the world from the U.S. that play in the Olympics, right? So, you think about it, we think of the Dream Team and that's a really high expectation to try to get to,” Fredette said. “Once you know that you're not going to get there it's like, ’well, that's the opportunity to play in the Olympics.’ But now 3x3 gives more people an opportunity to play basketball in the Olympics.”
One of Fredette’s teammates is Canyon Barry, the youngest son of basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry who pioneered the underhanded free throw in the 1960s. You can expect to see the unconventional granny shot in Paris this summer.
“Logic would dictate if you had one of the greatest free throw shooters of all time as your father and personal free throw coach that you should probably look into adopting his style,” Canyon said. “It's something where I learned the form from a young age and then finally decided to make the switch junior year in high school and haven't really looked back since. It's nice to be able to kind of pay tribute and honor my dad, too.”
Canyon’s mother, Lynn, was a trailblazer in women’s basketball serving as a former Assistant Executive Director of USA Women's Basketball and helping to launch the WNBA in the 1990s. Later this summer, Canyon will get to live out his own Olympic dreams.
Dylan Travis’s journey to an Olympic basketball roster was an unlikely one. After retiring from five-on-five basketball, he was working as a special education teacher and coaching when he started playing in three-on-three tournaments a few years ago. He was participating in weekend tournaments that grew bigger and bigger, eventually moving into international and semi-professional play.
“I quit teaching to go back full time pro and hopefully make the Olympics and it actually happens. I kind of bet on myself,” Travis said.
The United States Women's 3x3 team won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 but this will be the first time the men play on this stage. The Latvian team won gold on the men’s side with the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) claiming silver for both the men and women. Kareem Maddox was on the 2021 United States men’s team that didn't qualify for the for the last Olympics, making this opportunity to put on that red, white, and blue, and represent the United States even more special.
“That was a low point USA basketball in particular. There's this tradition of excellence. I think it's an honor but it's also really exciting to be able to try to continue that,” Maddox said.
Team USA’s men’s and women’s 3x3 basketball teams were both ranked No. 2 in the world at the end of the qualification period. La Concorde is the venue set to host the 3x3 games during the Paris Olympics, which begin on July 26 and conclude on August 11.
Follow the conversation with Lina Washington on X/Twitter: @LWashingtonTV. If you have a sports story idea, email Lina at LWashington@12News.com.
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