Dutch basketball giant Worthy De Jong relishing new journey of self-discovery in 3x3: “I’m truly a student of the game again”

For Dutch basketball great Worthy De Jong, life has always been about connection.

The 35-year-old, born in Suriname and named after LA Lakers star James Worthy, has thrived from forging bonds on the hardwood, reaping a conveyor belt of results for his efforts.

During his 13-year-long professional career, 10 of which he spent at domestic side ZZ Leiden, he won three national titles, two national cups as well as an endless string of personal accolades. His form for the club, and his loyalty to it, eventually earned him the nickname ‘Mister ZZ Leiden’.

He was its beating heart and the teams he played in were like brothers.

“I enjoyed all those years,” De Jong said to Olympics.com, looking back fondly. “I’ve been very, very loyal to the team and they’ve been amazing throughout the years. They turned from team to family and I think most of our success was because of that. The groups that we put together always seemed to come close. I think for success that’s something that you need.”

But last year, while still playing for ZZ Leiden De Jong found something inside him shifting. His passion for 5-on-5, the sport that had brought him so much, had begun to peter out and it was starting to take its toll. It was then he knew something needed to change: he decided to hang up his 5-on-5 shoes for good and try something new.

“I kind of lost my love for [basketball]. I went through a pretty rough patch during that because basketball was pretty much everything I knew,” the Dutchman explained. “I needed a new challenge, a new environment.”

Deciding 2022 FIBA EuroBasket with the Oranje would be his swansong De Jong attacked the tournament like every game he had played for Leiden. He finished on hot form slipping 28 points past a Nikola Jokic-led Serbia.

Those watching De Jong shred lamented his stepping away, but for the basketball player it further proved he was making the right choice. His ability was still there he just needed a new challenge. And it was to be 3x3 basketball.

“When I finished EuroBasket last year, I did pretty well, I did pretty good. And, knowing that I can finish my career knowing that I can still play the game and start something else and going after a new challenge did me good,” De Jong continued.

“Ever since that moment, 3x3 has been feeding my energy and I'm starting to love the game again. I think the most that I like most about it is that I'm truly a student of the game again. I need to learn new ways to score, new ways to do everything. Get used to the physicality. So that's given me a lot.”

Slams, steals and game-winning twos, though still relatively new to the format, De Jong looks every bit at home on the half-court.

But it isn’t for the first time that De Jong has had to work to reconnect with hoops.

Determined from a young age to be better at basketball than his father, himself a former player, an aspiring young De Jong saw his future in the United States. His dream became a reality when he was awarded a scholarship to attend Ranger College in Texas, and at the age of 18, he went Stateside.

Things there, however, were not what the Dutchman imagined and after a year, he returned to the Netherlands with his motivation to play basketball in pieces.

“When I got there, it didn’t really seem like what I really wanted,” De Jong recalled. “It was a nice experience; it was one I had to go through but it wasn’t the way I expected it to be. When I came back I wasn’t really motivated to play anymore.”

Seeing him dejected, De Jong’s friends stepped in. They urged him not to waste his talent and told him to keep going and see what else might lie ahead. Their intervention, De Jong explained, ultimately paid off and the renewed Dutchman made his way back on to the basketball path.

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Worthy De Jong: Setting sights on Paris 2024

Now a staple in the Netherlands’ 3x3 World Tour 3x3 team, Amsterdam, as well as the national side, De Jong says he’s back to feeling himself again.

The challenge of wanting to achieve something again paired with the sense of family he feels in the group featuring Arvin Slagter, a former club and country team-mate, has reignited his drive and the 3x3 community has taken note. His new moniker ‘Human Highlight Reel’ has caught fire, and is continuing to spread.

If there is any pressure on the Dutchman to excel in the ways he used to in 5-on-5 he says he’s not feeling it. The focus right now is on new plays, strategies and techniques: “It doesn't matter how great you play [in 3x3]. Until the time is finished or it's 21 everything can happen,” he added ominously.

But when it comes to wanting he wants to achieve in his new discipline, he isn’t shy about his ambitions. Sitting top of the list is the Olympic Games.

“That's definitely one of the reasons why I came,” De Jong said with an eye on Paris 2024.

“It’s one of the things that I want to achieve. I would love to play at that stage. I feel like our ceiling is high and we have much room to grow. I can't wait to see where it develops.

“Everybody is there at the top. And I would love to try that out and see where it takes me and where it takes us."