The Americans won 3×3 gold in Tokyo in 2021.Pictures
American basketball Jim Tooley, CEO doesn’t spend time worrying about Steph Curry making shots or Diana Taurasi being healthy. The NBA and WNBA seasons do most of the preparation work for Olympians.
But with the addition of 3×3 basketball to the Tokyo Olympics, the national governing body had to make financial and organizational commitments to operate the teams and fund players on the FIBA professional circuit. This month, it paid off as the United States became the first country to qualify teams in all four events for next year’s Paris Olympics.
That will give USA Basketball a chance to win four gold medals, something it didn’t get in Tokyo because the U.S. men didn’t qualify in 3×3.
“We obviously build on the robust 5×5 ecosystem, but it’s really a very different discipline,” Tooley said. “The way you prepare is different. You have to participate in many events on the professional circuit, both men’s and women’s, to be eligible, and we are not in the professional team business, but we are in the 3×3 because it is directly linked to the participation of your national team to events.
Countries can earn a 3×3 berth at the Games by placing in the top three based on their results in FIBA-sanctioned events, including national team competitions and professional circuit events, from November 1, 2022 to 31 october. The remaining five places are determined during the qualifying tournaments next year.
Tooley and USA Basketball didn’t want to leave anything to chance. The organization has spent approximately $2 million over the past 15 months, sending 67 players to 61 tournaments in 16 different countries. Team rankings are based on the sum of ranking points accumulated by a country’s top 25 players, meaning USA Basketball needed dozens of athletes to compete often and play well.
In total, USA Basketball teams have used 43 different teams. It also supported 20 additional U.S. players on other teams, dedicated three full-time employees to the effort and had a total of 15 head coaches, assistants and camp coaches.
This investment ultimately resulted in two second places, the men’s in Serbia and the women’s in China.
While USA Basketball had Red Bull as a partner before Tokyo, the NGB financed the effort.
“We cannot say that the business must come first. You have to go for it, and luckily we do well where we can invest in it,” Tooley said. “We hope that this visibility for 2024 will help us generate new interest in its commercial proposition.”
Once the places have been secured, the emphasis is now placed on the success of the teams in Paris.
In 3×3, teams (made up of four players each) play a 10-minute game with a 12-second shot clock on a half-court. Play is continuous, baskets are worth one or two points and the first team to 21 wins, unless time expires first and the team in front wins.
USA Basketball’s 3×3 pool is not from the NBA and many players have other jobs. On the women’s side, WNBA players led Team USA to the gold medal in Tokyo.
Now, trying to win four gold medals is the goal in a sport where the United States has dominated. In 5×5, the U.S. women have won the last seven gold medals and the U.S. men have won four in a row.
“The hope is to win gold,” Tooley said. “That’s what sports fans in this country are waiting for, I think: USA Basketball, gold. This is what we are aiming for. It’s exciting.”
