Ahead of 3×3 basketball making its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in July, USA Basketball and Red Bull 3X officially will commemorate March 3 (3/3) as #3x3Day and encourage people to play 3×3 basketball.
3×3 is played with three players per team on a half court and a 12-second shot clock. Baskets made inside the arc are worth one point, and baskets made from behind the 3-point line are worth two points. The winner is the first team to 21 points, or the leading team after 10 minutes.
In 2019, USA Basketball and Red Bull created the Red Bull 3X program, a series of 3×3 tournaments across the country to identify elite players to potentially represent USA Basketball 3×3 men’s and women’s national teams. The program continues in 2020 in the lead-up to the Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Nationals and beyond, and March 3 will be an official USA Basketball holiday to shine a light on 3×3 hoops.
In celebration of the partnership, Red Bull is launching the Red Bull 3X Limited Edition can. Offered in 8.4 fl. oz., 12 fl. oz. and 8.4-fl. oz. multipacks, the custom Red Bull 3X can will be available at retailers nationwide for a limited time or while supplies last. Consumers can visit the URL featured on the can to play the Red Bull 3X video game, a web-based 3×3 basketball game, for a chance to score a legendary trip with Red Bull and USA Basketball.
“3×3 basketball’s popularity continues its amazing growth, and it is poised to become even more popular with its debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games,” said Jim Tooley , USA Basketball CEO. “USA Basketball is excited to celebrate the newest basketball discipline and appreciative of the support from Red Bull 3X, which has helped expand awareness and create a strong 3×3 competition system in the United States. In recognizing March 3 as 3×3 Day, we hope to encourage basketball fans of all ages and all abilities to get out and play 3×3 basketball and experience why its popularity is exploding.”
While 3×3 basketball is on the 2020 Olympic slate, the USA men and women are not yet qualified for the tournament and will compete for an Olympic berth at the 2020 FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament March 18-22 in Bengaluru, India. The top three men’s and women’s teams at that event will earn their spot in the Tokyo Olympics.
Representing the USA men at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be: Canyon Barry (Iowa Wolves/Colorado Springs, Colo.), Robbie Hummel (Purdue University ‘2012/Valparaiso, Ind.), Dominique Jones (Fort Hays State University ‘2011/Harlem, N.Y.) and Kareem Maddox (Princeton University ‘2011/Los Angeles, Calif.). And, named to the USA women’s team were current WNBA players: Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx/O’Fallon, Mo.), Stefanie Dolson (Chicago Sky/Port Jervis, N.Y.), Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings/Sandersville, Ga.) and Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces/Poway, Calif.).
Should the USA qualify for the 3×3 Olympic basketball competition, the USA 3×3 Olympic rosters will be chosen from among the athletes who take part in the 2020 Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Nationals that will take place this April.
Individuals who play 3×3 basketball also can register at play.fiba3x3.com, where participation points are tracked to rank players internationally.
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AFP
