Considered the top urban sport in the world, 3x3 basketball developed from a creative variation of basketball with a far less formal structure — street basketball.
Unlike conventional basketball, 3x3 basketball is played on a half-court where two teams of three players compete. Both teams attack and defend the same hoop, depending on who has possession of the ball. Games can be won in two ways: be the first team to score 21 points or have the highest score through 10 minutes. The 3-point line in conventional basketball serves as the 2-point line in 3x3 basketball.
3x3 basketball was only added to the Olympic program for the first time at the Tokyo Olympic Games, which were held in 2021, in which the U.S. men's team failed to qualify. The women's team of Kelsey Plum, Allisha Gray, Stefanie Dolson and Jackie Young made history by winning the first-ever Olympic women's 3x3 title.
The 3x3 basketball games at the 2024 Paris Olympics will take place July 30 - Aug. 5.
Venues
The 3x3 basketball events at the 2024 Paris Olympics will take place inside the city at the iconic venue of Place de la Concorde.
Ever since Paris began bidding to host, it made a strong commitment to organizing a Games that would occur outside of traditional stadiums, in the heart of the capital. Place de La Concorde represents an important step in achieving that goal.
Place de La Concorde will temporarily became an open stage for urban sports to take place in their original playground: the city center. Connecting one of the most beautiful avenues in the world — the Champs-Élysées — to the Tuileries Gardens, the Place de la Concorde will showcase spectacular Olympic sports against the backdrop of Parisian heritage. Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Paris and a stone's throw away from other historic competition venues, including the Champ-de-Mars Arena and the Invalides.
During the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Place de la Concorde will host four sports: 3x3 basketball, skateboarding, BMX freestyle and the long-awaited breaking.
Competition Schedule
| Date | Event | Time (ET) |
| July 30 | Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
11:30a-1:30p |
| Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
3p-5p | |
| July 31 | Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
11:30a-1:30p |
| Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
3p-5p | |
| August 1 | Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
3a-5a |
| Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
6:30a-8:30a | |
| Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
Noon-2p | |
| Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
3:30p-5:30p | |
| August 2 | Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
3a-5a |
| Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
6:30a-8:30a | |
| Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
11:30a-1:30p | |
| Women's Pool Round (2 Games) Men's Pool Round (2 Games) |
3p-5p | |
| August 3 | Women's Pool Round (4 Games) Women's Play In (2 Games) |
11:30a-1:30p 3:30p-4:30p |
| August 4 | Men's Pool Round (4 Games) Men's Play In (2 Games) |
11:30a-1:30p 3:30p-4:30p |
| August 5 | Women's Semifinals Men's Semifinals |
11:30a-1:30p |
| Women's Bronze Medal Game Men's Bronze Medal Game Women's Gold Medal Game Men's Gold Medal Game |
3:30p-5:30p |
Team USA: Olympic 3x3 basketball players to watch
We'll start on the women's side, which has undergone a bit of an overhaul since winning gold in Tokyo. But even after Cameron Brink's torn ACL, the U.S. still boasts more than enough talent to be considered gold-medal favorites once again. Replacing Brink on the roster is Dearica Hamby, her Los Angeles Sparks teammate. Hamby is in the midst of a career year in her 10th WNBA season, with personal bests in points (19.4) and rebounds (10.0) per game at the Olympic break. Rhyne Howard is the other current WNBA player on the squad, and she comes with quite the track record of her own: Drafted No. 1 overall by the WNBA's Atlanta Dream in 2022, Howard has been an All-Star selection in each of her first two seasons in the league.
Cierra Burdick, 30, is the veteran of this squad, boasting two 3x3 World Cup titles with the U.S. — one in 2014, the other last year. Burdick played collegiately at the University of Tennessee and spent parts of five seasons in the WNBA.
After missing out on the Tokyo Games, the U.S. will have a men's 3x3 team at the Olympics for the first time, and the roster is headlined by a familiar face: NBA veteran and former BYU star Jimmer Fredette. At the conclusion of his professional career in China, Fredette was given the chance to join the 3x3 national team, and he has been seizing the opportunity ever since. Fredette led all players in scoring with 59 points at the 2023 World Cup, showcasing the same lethal long-range shooting that made him such a sensation in college.
Fredette is one of two newcomers to the U.S. men's 3x3 team since the last Olympic cycle. The other? Dylan Travis, who was working as a special education teacher and basketball coach at a high school in Omaha when he got the call from USA Basketball to join the team in 2022. The 6-foot-3 combo guard played his college basketball at Midland, Iowa Central and Florida Southern before a brief career overseas.