Prior to 2007, ordinary basketball was the only official and legally regulated basketball sport by FIBA. Eight nations established FIBA (International Basketball Federation) on 18th June 1932 and today brings 213 basketball federations of national leagues across the globe.
In the latter part of 2000, three-on-three streetball that was played worldwide was arousing the association’s interest. This game variant was trendy for generations; however, the players didn’t have the proper system and organization in place to play professionally.
FIBA saw a chance to solve this. The idea behind the organization was to develop an entirely new sports discipline that could bring new athletes into basketball, allow basketball players from lower-ranked nations to participate, push the basketball sport into new horizons, and increase the game’s popularity. FIBA also had a secret plan to make basketball the most played sport worldwide by the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
To achieve this, they thought that the new format for a game should bring entertainment and be accessible to a wide variety of players while at the same time being affordable and straightforward to arrange. Furthermore, they believed that the best result would bring events at famous locations, centers of the cities, and areas in which they could attract the attention of people passing by.
At first, FIBA had to overcome several challenges, with their initial objective to organize, structure, and formalize three-on-three. The other goal was to create an international platform to showcase the new sport across the world.
Three-on-three made its first official appearance in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
The transition from three-on-three, which was played informally on the streets, to a more formal basketball game was accompanied by a name change, changing it to “3×3.” At first, 3×3 was often misinterpreted as a basket “3-on-3”, but FIBA has made it explicit that the official title for this basketball game is 3×3. FIBA has decided to use the proper pronunciation for the discipline: “3 ex 3.”
Since the year 2010, this sport has grown rapidly. It has become international under the direction of FIBA 3×3, which organized the World Cup and other regional cup competitions for national teams and World Tour events for professional teams.
The popularity of 3×3 first exploded within Europe in Europe and Asia. It then expanded to the USA as well as other regions of the globe as people were captivated by the entertainment value. 3×3 is about much more than action on the court.
It really aims to entertain everyone with various side events, like dunking contests. The highly entertaining aspect, the urban culture, and the fact that 3×3 takes place at tournaments where attendees can watch multiple games in a single day have led to the attraction of new fans who may not have been interested in hoops earlier.
Seven years had passed between when the first official international 3×3 event was organized in the year 2010 until it became part of the Olympic program on June 9, 2017, scheduled for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Few major sports have gained this much international recognition in such a short time. This was due to the incredible work done by the entire 3×3 community, in particular the collaboration between FIBA and national basketball federations and private promoters.
It is hard to find who was the most important FIBA official that started the 3×3 movement and later worked on accelerating its development. That was the former FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann, who was the 3×3’s early pioneer and predicted that it would become an integral part of basketball’s future.
He imagined it as a perfect game for young people because it forces youngsters to be more creative and innovative. He also believed that 3×3 could assist in expanding basketball beyond conventional boundaries since the costs of organizing outdoor 3×3 games are lower, it does not need colossal infrastructure, which is required in comparison to a traditional basketball match which needs to be held in the big indoor arena.
This will enable 3×3 to expand across new frontiers rapidly. Additionally, and perhaps the most important, he believed that 3×3 allows non-traditional basketball countries to participate in international competitions, which could be difficult otherwise because they need lots of elite players that are required for old school basketball teams.
The traditional basketball game tests the strength of smaller nations as teams must have 12 players. However, in 3×3, the talent pool is not so crucial because teams require only four players, which puts many nations on a level playing field for competition.
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