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Team USA Fails to Qualify for Men's 3x3 Basketball Debut at Tokyo Olympics

The U.S. men's team lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Sunday.

Andrew Gastelum

Team USA Fails to Qualify for Men's 3x3 Basketball Debut at Tokyo Olympics
Team USA Fails to Qualify for Men's 3x3 Basketball Debut at Tokyo Olympics /

When 3x3 basketball debuts at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, one heavyweight name will be missing after the United States men's team failed to qualify. 

At the 2021 FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament this week in Graz, Austria, Team USA topped its group despite losing to Belgium. But on Sunday in the quarterfinals, the Netherlands eliminated the U.S. from the tournament, where the top three teams will advance to Tokyo.  

Team USA was considered one of the Olympic favorites after winning the 2019 FIBA World Cup. The team was made up of former Purdue star and Timberwolves forward Robbie Hummel, No. 1 ranked U.S. 3x3 player and former NBA first-round draft pick Dominique Jones, former Princeton standout Kareem Maddox, NBA G League guard Canyon Berry, son of NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry. Former University of Minnesota guard Joey King also joined the team as an injury replacement. 

The 3x3 competition differs from the long-standing, full-court event in that 3x3's half-court games are played outdoors in under 10 minutes, points are counted by 1s and 2s up to 21, and rules include a 12-second shot clock and a ball that is 1 1/2 centimeters smaller than an NBA regulation basketball.

After the three Olympic spots awarded at the current qualifying tournament, one entry was saved for Japan as the host, one place will be awarded to the winner of next week's FIBA Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament, while three spots were given to the top three countries in the FIBA 3x3 rankings as of November 2019: China, ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) and Serbia. 

The U.S. women's team—composed of WNBA players Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum and Katie Lou Samuelson—qualified for Tokyo after defeating Spain in the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament semifinals on Sunday. 

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Andrew Gastelum
ANDREW GASTELUM

Andrew Gastelum is a programming editor and writer at Sports Illustrated who specializes in soccer, the Olympics and international sports. He joined the SI staff in March 2021 and previously contributed to Howler Magazine and NBC Sports. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame alum and is currently based in Italy.

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