There will be more basketball in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The International Olympic Committee has approved the inclusion of 3-on-3 basketball as one of the new sports to be added when the Olympics arrive in Tokyo in 2020, as well as mixed-gender events in swimming and track and field competitions.
With the addition of the new basketball events for men and women, it will boost the total number of medal events in the 2020 games by 15 compared to the 2016 games in Rio. It was previously announced that baseball and softball will be returning to the Olympic stage in 2020 as well. 3-on-3 basketball has been held in international competition circles since 2010 by the Youth Olympic program and FIBA held a world championship tournament in 2012.
The new 3-on-3 competition will take place on half a court with one basket. Each team will have four players, with one bench player ready to sub in when needed. Games should be quick too with a game being decided by the first team to reach 21. On some playgrounds and driveways, you have to win by two, but that will not be the case in the Olympics. There will be room for eight nations for both the men’s and women’s tournaments, and it should just be assumed the United States is going to have one space in each field.
The reaction to the news has been somewhat mixed, at least in the United States, but the addition of 3-on-3 basketball could open up the doors to more players and nations experiencing some success on the hard court.
I wonder, though, if it will attract big names from smaller countries who wouldn’t get in team comp (i.e., Latvia/Porzingis)
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) June 9, 2017
At first glance, it would not seem likely that too many basketball players would be interested in doubling up on the Olympic action by competing in both the team basketball tournament and the 3-on-3 tournament. So, who should be on the 3-on-3 team for the United States in 2020?
We may be one step closer to an Olympic slam dunk contest.
