More intense and energetic than standard basketball, the 3x3 basketball matches promise to be very exciting at the Paris 2024 Games, after a successful Olympic introduction in Tokyo in 2021.
© Tom Bixler - Unsplash
The name leaves little room for doubt. In 3x3 basketball - the street version of standard basketball which has five versus five players - two teams of three players face off. Another significant difference: 3x3 basketball is played on one single basket, unlike standard basketball. This distinctive feature dates to the origins of the sport. In the 1980s, in the United States, when they played basketball people often had to make do with a single basket on the garage of their house or inside a municipal court.
Initially played as an informal game, 3x3 basketball became more structured towards the end of the 2000s thanks to the International Basketball Federation. In 2010, 3x3 basketball made its appearance at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Over a decade later, it made its debut at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. The United States won the gold medal in the women’s category and Latvia in the men’s.
The specifics of 3x3 basketball make it a spectacular, strenuous and highly energetic sport. Two teams comprising three players face off on a half-court and share a single basket both when defending and attacking. The matches last for ten minutes. A successful shot earns one point and a successful shot from a distance earns two points. If a team scores twenty-one points before the end of the regulation game time, the match is over. In case of a draw at the end of ten minutes, the first team to score two points wins the match.
At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, eight teams of four players each will go head to head in both the women’s and men’s matches. The competition will begin with a pool stage during which all the countries play each other. The pool stage will be followed by single elimination, all the way to the Olympic final.
As for the standard basketball, the United States team is expected to be a serious contender for the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Games. In 2023, the U.S. women’s team won the world cup title and the men won the silver medal.
Other countries to watch out for: Serbia, winner of the men’s 2023 world cup and – also the men’s team - Latvia, the gold medal winner at the Tokyo Games in 2021. The French women’s team, a finalist at the 2023 world cup and world champion in 2022, is an outsider to be reckoned with.
© Julien Scussel - Paris 2024
Paris has numerous 3x3 basketball playgrounds. Free and entirely renovated, they are part of the legacy of the Paris 2024 Games. There are three 3x3 basketball courts at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, in the Parc du Champ de Mars. The playground in the Square Léon in the 18th arrondissement features a woman’s face painted by the contemporary artist Elka to highlight women’s place in sport. In the 20th arrondissement of Paris, the Luquet 3x3 basketball court has been renovated by the NBA - the famous North American basketball league – and decorated by the Parisian street artist Kekli.
For players who want to go one step further, 3x3 basketball is also played in clubs such as the Eiffel Basket Club and Basket Paris 14 which hold training sessions.
© Paris 2024
At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, 3x3 basketball will take over the streets. The matches take place outdoors and in the heart of Paris from 30 July to 5 August 2024, on Place de la Concorde in the 8th arrondissement. An ideal and spectacular setting for this quintessentially urban sport.
Laëtitia Guapo is the queen of 3x3 basketball in France and she is world-renowned. A senior player on the French team, she took part in 3x3 basketball’s Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021. France placed fourth in Japan. A year later, in 2022, she was crowned world champion together with her fellow players on the French team and, on an individual basis, she was elected best player of the tournament. From September 2019 to August 2021, she was world number one in 3x3 basketball in the ranking established by the International Basketball Federation.
In summer 2024, playing at home, Laëtitia Guapo dreams of winning the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Games with the French team, which would be an Olympic and historic win.
Although Laetitia and her team went home without an Olympic medal, their male counterparts won a fine silver medal on 5 August 2024, only beaten by the Netherlands.
