Despite a tough start to the competition — three straight losses to start play, plus an injury to Jimmer Fredette — the U.S. men’s 3×3 basketball team still harbors hopes of a medal at the Paris Olympics.
But for many American basketball fans just tuning in to the sport, the roster has taken some getting used to. Fredette is still a household name thanks to his spectacular college career and his time in the NBA, but the trio of Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis has exactly zero NBA experience.
Which begs the question: How did the U.S. arrive at this particular group to represent it in Paris? Why aren’t NBA All-Stars who didn’t make the U.S. 5×5 team competing? The answer lies in how players are deemed eligible for international 3×3 competition.
SEE MORE: How to watch 3×3 basketball at the Paris Olympics: TV and stream schedule
How do players qualify for the U.S. Olympic 3×3 basketball teams?
Yes, NBA and WNBA players are allowed to compete; there’s nothing technically preventing, say, Jalen Brunson from becoming a 3×3 star.
But Brunson, or any other NBA or WNBA player, needs to comply with FIBA’s eligibility rules, which require each country’s roster to have two players ranked within the top 10 of that country and two players ranked within the top 50 (or with the minimum number of ranking points).
In addition, FIBA says it expects Olympic rosters to be made of athletes playing regularly on the FIBA 3×3 World Tour, at Challengers events and on the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series, since those bring with them the highest amount of ranking points.
All of which creates a problem for any NBA or WNBA player who’d like to try out 3×3.
Why are there no NBA players on the U.S. men’s 3×3 basketball roster?
The only way to climb up your country’s 3×3 rankings is to, well, play a lot of 3×3 events. NBA and WNBA players play a ton of basketball as it is, and it’s asking a lot for them to take time out of that schedule to play regularly on the 3×3 circuit. It’s a hard to sell any NBA team — the prospect of a player sacrificing their offseason to travel the world playing 3×3 events. And many WNBA players go overseas to continue playing professionally once the WNBA season concludes, meaning they have even less availability.
It is possible to make it work — the U.S. women’s team boasts current WNBA players Rhyne Howard and Dearica Hamby, and would have included Cameron Brink had the Los Angeles Sparks star not torn her ACL earlier this summer — but it requires jumping through some considerable logistical hoops. And for many NBA stars, increasingly large contracts are at stake.
Which isn’t to say that the U.S. will never send its biggest basketball names to this event at the Olympics. USA Basketball continues to try and grow the sport and keep pace with other nations that have dedicated full-time teams on the FIBA circuit. But there are structural incentives that make it a difficult dream to realize.
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