3x3 basketball: From the streets to an Olympic debut - know all about it
3x3 basketball is an edge-of-the-seat entertainment which made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.
Basketball 3x3
From the bustling streets of America to the Olympics – 3x3 basketball has shot into the limelight with blistering speed, much like the pace the game is played with.
Having originated as street basketball in the urban and semi-urban areas of the USA in the late 1980s, the game, at its core, is a condensed form of traditional full-court basketball. However, it wasn’t long before the backyard past-time became a cultural phenomenon.
Its soaring popularity eventually saw it being structured into a professional sport, with official rules sanctioned by the international basketball federation (FIBA), into the game that we know as 3x3 basketball today.
In 2010, the 3x3 game even made its global competitive debut at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
Just a decade after featuring at the Youth Olympics, 3x3 basketball made its bow in the senior event - for both men and women - at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games.
Here’s everything you need to know about the latest Olympic sport.
How 3x3 basketball is different from traditional basketball
An offshoot of the traditional basketball, 3x3 basketball shares a lot with the original variant, including ball handling regulations, basic violation rules like goaltending, double dribble, three-second rules, and so on.
However, there are some key structural differences that set the two games apart.
3x3 basketball court size and divisions
Unlike the 5x5 game, which is played on a full-scale basketball court (28mx15m) with two hoops or rings at either end, a 3x3 game is played on a half court -- measuring 11m in length and 15m in breadth – with just a single hoop at one end and an end line at the other.
The playing area is divided into two parts by a semi-circular arc, drawn at a radius of 6.75m from the centre of the hoop. The area inside the arc is called the one-point zone and the area outside the arc is called the two-point zone.
A 3x3 basketball game is played on a half court with just a single hoop at one end.
There’s a rectangular area (5.8mx4.9m) under the hoop called the key and its outer edge parallel to the baseline is called the free throw line.
How many players are in one team of 3x3 basketball?
As the name suggests, 3x3 basketball features three players in each team as opposed to the five in traditional basketball games. There’s only one substitute allowed on the bench in 3x3 basketball, who can enter the game anytime during a dead ball situation by tagging an outgoing player.
The 3x3 basketball ball
The ball used in a FIBA-sanctioned 3x3 basketball game is different from a regular one. A 3x3 basketball ball is the same weight (620g) as the official size 7 basketball used in FIBA’s official men’s 5x5 games but is a little smaller (72.39cm in diameter). A size 7 basketball is 74.93cm in diameter.
The smaller size facilitates better ball handling to suit the faster pace of the game.
How to play 3x3 basketball
Based on the aforementioned structural differences, the game is played a little differently than regular basketball as well.
With just one hoop present, there’s no concept of attacking or defending halves for the teams. The game starts with a coin toss and the winner gets to choose whether to begin the game as the offensive team or the defensive team.
Possession switches between teams after every made basket, be it a successful field goal or an unsuccessful attempt. The defensive team can also win possession via a steal, block or defensive rebound. Possession can also be turned over in case of violations.
Once a player takes control of the ball inside the arc, they need to dribble it out or pass it to a team-mate outside the arc before they can take a shot. The ball can be moved around the court either by passing or dribbling.
3x3 basketball shot clock
Like traditional basketball, there’s also a shot clock which determines a fixed time frame under which the offensive team must attempt a shot after taking over possession. In 3x3 basketball, it’s just 12 seconds – half of the 24 seconds allowed in regular basketball.
The core idea of the game is the same as regular basketball. The offensive team tries to score points by getting the ball inside the hoop from above while the defensive team tries to stop them.
3x3 basketball scoring
In 3x3 basketball, teams can earn points in two ways – scoring field goals/baskets or through free throws.
A field goal can earn two points or one point.
Two-point shot: Shooting and scoring a field goal from anywhere outside the arc line or from the two-point zone wins the team two points. These are referred to as two-pointers.
One-point shot: If a field goal is scored from inside the arc or the one-point zone, it is worth a single point.
Free throws, meanwhile, are always worth a point each.
Free throws: Awarded due to infractions by opposition players, free throws allow the fouled player to take one or two unimpeded shots at the basket from beyond the free throw line.
A FIBA-sanctioned game of 3x3 basketball is played over just a single 10-minute period. The first team to score 21 points instantly wins the match. If neither team reaches the threshold, the team with more points by the end of these 10 minutes is victorious.
If the score is tied by the end of regulation time, overtime comes into effect with the side which started the game as the defensive team getting first possession.
The first team to score 2 points in overtime wins the game.
Other 3x3 basketball rules to know
Substitution is permitted when the ball becomes dead and the game clock is stopped.
One 30 second timeout is granted to each team. In addition, two technical timeouts will take place (as soon as the ball goes dead after three and six minutes of playing time).
When a team commits its seventh, eighth and ninth team fouls, their opponents receive two free throws. For the tenth and any subsequent team fouls, their opponents will receive two free throws and ball possession. Players are not excluded based on the number of personal fouls. A player committing two unsportsmanlike fouls will be disqualified from the game, and may receive further sanctions.
A team shall lose the game by forfeit if at the scheduled starting time the team is not present on the playing court with three players ready to play. In case of a forfeit, the game score is marked with W-0 or 0-W (W = win).
A team shall lose by default if it leaves the court before the end of the game, or if all the players on the team are injured and/or disqualified. In case of a default situation, the winning team may choose to keep its score or have the game forfeited, whilst the defaulting team's score is set to zero in all cases. In all cases, existing statistics remain. On a case by case basis, team and player statistics could be removed from the statistics leaders outputs. In case of a default where the winning team chooses to have the game forfeited, the game result shall not be considered when calculating the team's average score.
Tiebreak rules
The following classification rules shall apply to determine both standings in the pool and overall competition ranking.
If teams that have reached the same stage of the competition are tied, the following steps to break the tie shall be applied. Each step shall be carried out only once in the tie-breaking process. If some or all teams are still tied after one step, the next step shall be applied to break the tie between those teams still tied:
- Most wins (or win ratio).
- Head-to-head comparison (only taking wins into account, and only to determine standings in the pool).
- Most points scored on average per game (without considering winning scores of forfeits). For the purpose of standings calculation, a maximum of 21 points per game can be taken into consideration.
If the teams remain tied, they will be ranked by seeding (highest seed first).
3x3 basketball terminologies
3x3 basketball – a game of speed
With a smaller court, seamless transitions between offence and defence, lesser time and a shorter shot clock, 3x3 basketball action typically tends to be frantic entertainers, much like popular modern-day variations of traditional sports.
T20 – a shorter variation of cricket - can be considered as another example and like 3x3 basketball has seen rapid growth in popularity in recent years.
From an athlete’s perspective, 3x3 basketball focuses more on agility and versatility than endurance and tactics.
"It's global, it’s urban, it’s a show. It is so fast. You need to think quickly. If you want to be at a high level you have to develop all types of skill,” three-time FIBA 3x3 World Tour winner Dusan Bulut said.
At Tokyo 2020, Latvia became the first-ever 3x3 basketball Olympic champion in men's category while the USA clinched the honours in the women's division.