Staff USA’s 3×3 males’s workforce suffered a crushing 21-6 loss to the Netherlands within the remaining pool sport on Sunday, failing to qualify for the knockout spherical of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The loss meant the nation completed with a 2-5 document in its debut within the new Olympic sport, which was launched on the Tokyo Video games three years in the past.
The early exit has sparked debate about the way forward for 3×3 basketball, and the recruiting course of adopted by USAB to assemble the four-member rosters for the brand new Olympic sport. Whereas some have argued that one of the best 3×3 gamers within the nation might be present in road tournaments or leagues comparable to Big 3, others really feel that energetic NBA or collegiate gamers — of their athletic primes — should be recruited to play the format.
The latter method is already used to assemble Staff USA’s girls’s workforce, with WNBA stars Allisha Grey and Kelsey Plum representing the nation in 2021 and Rhyne Howard and Cameron Brink (pulled out with injury) committing to 3×3 Olympics this yr. Nonetheless, the boys’s workforce nonetheless depends on journeymen who have been principally within the NBA for a cup of espresso earlier than they made their careers in Europe or different abroad leagues. These gamers — specifically Jimmer Fredette, Kareem Maddox, Canyon Barry and Dylan Travis — even have 3×3 expertise in native and FIBA tournaments, making them viable candidates for Staff USA.
However, ought to that have actually matter?
Ice Dice, the founding father of Huge 3, is satisfied that gamers from his league — most of whom are retired NBA gamers — would have fared higher in Paris than Staff USA’s four-man workforce.
“They acquired their [expletive] kicked,” Cube said of Staff USA’s 21-6 loss. “They want our gamers — for sure. The entire world can see that.”