3x3 basketball twins Michelle and Katherine Plouffe: Why we are stronger together

Katherine and Michelle Plouffe don’t need to say it because they know that in the fast-paced, high-stakes and sometimes unforgiving world of 3x3 basketball having your twin sister as your team-mate is a special kind of advantage.

It’s visible on the half-court with the way the two so often connect to set each other up for buckets.

And it’s also tangible off it too.

A knowing look, an escaping giggle, a point of the finger and they can sense exactly what the other means or intends without having to say a word. It’s part of the unique understanding that comes with sharing that exact same genetic makeup that only a few can ever truly appreciate.

“It’s a really cool dynamic,” Katherine said of her twin-ship with Michelle, in an interview with Olympics.com at last month’s FIBA 3x3 World Cup in Vienna, Austria.

“We have a great relationship and we get to do what we love together,” Michelle, sat next to her sister, chimed in with agreement.

Since making the conversion from 5-on-5 basketball to 3x3 in 2019, the twins, who grew up playing in a big sporting household, have been the beating core of Canada’s women’s team along with another founding member in Paige Crozon. And now, with Kacie Bosch blooded in, the squad has become a force to be reckoned with on the Women’s Series and on the international stage.

Getting to play with one another in a positive environment that they have helped build from the ground up means the Plouffe twins are now thriving together both on and off the court.

But throughout their journey to now, they haven’t always been side-by-side and content like they are now.

Plouffe twin trouble: “I got called Michelle in my own university"

Michelle and Katherine's first parting came by choice at age 17 when the two decided they needed to break from each other’s company so that they could be seen as individuals and not twins. It was a desire that had grown after years of being judged against one another.

“When you’re always with each other doing the same thing and being compared often it can breed comparison in a negative way,” Katherine said on the challenges of growing up being a twin. “There’s also a healthy comparison where you can level up to, or get pulled by both of us levelling up. That’s what happens now mostly, the healthy kind.”

“But, there was the unhealthy portion” Michelle chipped in.

“We were trying to figure out ourselves and each other and how to have that healthy relationship that was not envying or being jealous or comparing ourselves. Everyone has that with someone at some point in not being rooted in their own identity and comparing themselves it just happened to be also doing that from birth.”

To help them grow, they decided to go to different universities. Michelle chose the University of Utah and Katherine, Marquette University in Milwaukee.

“It was great for me because Michelle is a strong leader and I wanted to develop that so the space allowed me to do that. Find myself a bit; on the court and off the court. Same for her. It was just a neat opportunity to be individuals.

“Although,” Katherine continued, with a grin. “I got called Michelle in my own university and I’m like, ‘She’s not even here!’ But I would talk about her all the time so, it happens.”

Just like for her sister, for Michelle, those years were formative to their relationship now because, for the first time, it made them work at their relationship.

“When we went to university it was the first time we had been apart so we were like 17 and hadn’t been apart before. So, when we left, like in the summer. It was probably July or August… we didn’t talk to each other or call each other until our birthday which was September 15th and then we were like, ‘Oh yeah! it’s her birthday too!’

“It was just weird because we never had to pick up the phone to call each other,” Michelle continued laughing as Katherine underlined the realisation the two went through after that moment.

‘You take it for granted that they’re in the next room if you need to talk to them. But it’s for any relationship, especially when we played overseas, the relationships that last are the ones you put effort in and because we’re family and close, it’s like ‘OK, I better put that effort in!”

London 2012: Learnings for Katherine and a surprise for Michelle

Another test of the twins’ relationship came not long after when Michelle was selected to represent Canada in basketball at London 2012 Olympics but Katherine was not.

The experience of missing out was one Katherine now considers one of the most important in her career as she learnt for the first time the importance of thinking beyond just herself.

“That was a turning point in my career for sure and definitely off the court, figuring out back to the identity question, and where my values were,” she explained.

“It was a big moment because I had to figure out who am I apart from basketball. Because I think that’s a question a lot of professional athletes wrestle with when we’re doing one thing for most of our lives and most of our time. When that gets taken away through injury or other circumstances, it’s like OK, is this going to shake all of who I am? Or, who am I outside of that? And that was a great turning point for me in getting connected to people. For me, it was my faith that really rooted me.

“I thought I was up here in people’s eyes like, ‘What will people think of me if I didn’t go?’ In reality, no one was thinking of me, it was really fine. It was just me that was thinking of me. And so, it got my eyes off myself and allowed me to focus on where Michelle was and the opportunity she had, and I got to go out and support her in London with my mom so we made a trip out there.

“I was the surprise,” Katherine said finishing her thought at the same time Michelle shouted, “She surprised me!” Before both erupted with laughter.

Though she didn’t get the call-up, Katherine decided to still travel to the UK to support her twin alongside their mum but the family opted to keep it a secret. Michelle, deliberately kept out of the loop, had no idea what was coming but described seeing her sister in the stands like it was just yesterday.

“I didn’t know she was coming. I thought my mum was coming with my aunt - auntie Barbara - and so at the Opening Ceremony, we’re walking, then lining up and everyone’s calling their people. And I’m calling Katherine, and I go straight to voicemail, straight to voicemail and I’m like ‘She is not answering my phone calls!’ Like getting mad. I didn’t hear from her.

“Then at our game, we played the next day, and after the game, we look up and someone told us where our family was, and I look up in the stands, and I think I saw our mum and mum was jumping and pointing and then I saw Katherine there and then I think I cried. But then I was like, ‘Where’s auntie Barbara?’ But, that was the surprise, it was Katherine there. And it was really awesome having her there - it was really great.

“I remember the first step she stepped on the court to play, I forget what game it was, Australia? I started crying,” Katherine added. “Mostly because I wanted you to get your shot out there.

“There was a lot in that trip.”

Michelle Plouffe on 3x3 basketball: "It's very welcoming"

Four years later, the Plouffes finally got to share an Olympic experience at Rio 2016 when they were both picked to play for Canada in the women’s basketball event. Michelle was particularly grateful to have her sister then by her side and not in the stands.

“It was much different having her there. It was much more fun, for me personally. It was just something we could share together. We do have our own journeys and identities but it’s also a huge blessing to have a shared experience like that together and the Olympics is not an everyday thing.”

Now, seven years on, the two are working hard to once more to be at an Olympics together again but this time in 3x3.

Speaking about their entry into the half-court game, the pair credit their team-mate Crozon who first mentioned the format to them a few years prior. Having both felt their time in 5-on-5 was up they decided they wanted in - and they made the call to Crozon.

“After 2018, I was good to go leave the 5-on-5 team. Katherine was already not on the team so we were like, ‘This is it; we’re going to do this.’ So we called up Paige, and she was on board immediately,” Michelle explained. “It was like the perfect collision of circumstance; a perfect storm. And we kind of took the opportunity and ran with it. We kind of forced ourselves onto the 3x3 scene.”

What the twins refer to as “small beginnings” started with them both having to understand the nuances of their sport.

“The first game was a struggle for sure,” Katherine recalled laughing. “We played against France and they already knew what they were doing out there and we were running around.

“I don’t know even know if we got many shots,” Michelle added before Katherine replied, “There was so much running around.”

Though they had to learn a lot, and fast, the young team relished their new environment and the opportunities that came with it.

“It’s just a much different environment which we love,” Michelle said explaining how why she and Katherine connected so much with 3x3.

“You’re on the world tour, you see these teams at every stop and so you get to know the players and how they operate and what kind of challenges they’re going through so it’s very much like a familial atmosphere. As opposed to the 5x5 where the group is already so big it’s like a 20-person team so it’s not like you’re intermingling with all the other countries, it’s a much different atmosphere. It’s very welcoming.”

Despite only truly committing to 3x3 in four years ago, it didn’t take long for the results to reflect the new-found happiness they were feeling on the court.

Two years after breaking through onto the Women’s Series collecting tour stop wins in their wake, they clinched silver at the 2022 3x3 World Cup and then the 2022 AmeriCup.

Though not quite able to replicate their success last year at the 2023 edition of the World Cup, the Canadians remain at the top of the game with Michelle, Katherine and Paige occupying one, two and three, in the 3x3 individual player rankings reflecting their ability to dominate on the half-court.

“We have expectations of ourselves as a team first of all. Not as a heavy burden but more that we know what we can achieve so it’s more like a standard of excellence that we want to be pulled to,” Michelle said on why the Canadians have been so successful so quickly.

“That’s why it’s so helpful that we’re all light-hearted and joyful; it really just grounds us in something other than, ‘OK, this game’. It’s like, OK we play better and enjoy ourselves more when we have fun and we’re working together and all that stuff so I think that’s one of the strengths of our team is our chemistry on the court but also our general outlook on what this is and how we view life and it really goes a long way.”

Michelle and Katherine Plouffe on Paris 2024: "That is the goal"

Strong and healthy bonds both on and off the court put the Plouffes, and Canada, in a great position to make it to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with qualification already underway.

Speaking of the Games, both were clear about their intention to be there citing it as their goal for the foreseeable future.

Having both represented their country internationally in sports for well over a decade a trip to France for the next Olympics would mark another remarkable chapter of service and the significance of making it again was not lost on either of the twins who both reflected on what it would mean to go.

“The second wave representing Canada with 3x3, the time has gone by so fast for me at least,” Katherine said.

“But looking back it’s been so many steps along the way. Maybe building to this point or just seeing the process as a whole. It’s been so fun and freeing to take each moment by moment but it’s a cool goal to have: that we’re trying to qualify for the Olympics. That is the goal and that’s going to happen.”

“It just feels different with this team than with the 5-on-5 team because the group is so small, you know?" Michelle added.

"And we have such a big impact here, and we’ve put so much into it. Not that if we fell short it would all be meaningless, but it would be awesome to see the fruit of that at the Olympics in Paris with a medal or whatever that looks like.

"It would just be the cherry on top.”