Who made the 3-on-3 USA Basketball Olympic Qualifying Teams?

USA Basketball has announced the men’s and women’s teams that will represent the country at the FIBA 3-on-3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament from March 18-22 in Bengaluru, India. 2020 is the first year that the Summer Olympics will feature the 3-on-3 format.

How are the USA Basketball 3-on-3 teams picked?

While it would be easy for USA Basketball to select elite NBA or WNBA players for the 3-on-3 format, things aren’t quite that simple. To become eligible for the squads, players have been accumulating points over the last few months at select events. At least two players four-person teams must be ranked in the top 10 of the FIBA 3-on-3 athletes list.

That makes it extremely difficult on the men’s side as those elite players like LeBron James have been busy with their normal NBA schedule. It is a little simpler on the women’s side as the WNBA plays its games in the summer months. All four members of the 3-on-3 Women’s Team are current WNBA players.

Sixteen male and 11 female hopefuls competed in a training camp in Chicago ahead of the NBA All-Star festivities. USA Basketball’s 3-on-3 Selection Committee made their picks on February 17.

How the 3-on-3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament works

The qualifiers will each feature a round-robin, group-stage tournament in which 20 teams will compete for three Olympic berths. Four teams for Tokyo this July have already been determined on each side. Serbia, Russia, China and Japan have qualified on the men’s side. Russia, China, Mongolia and Romania have qualified on the women’s side.

The three teams that make it out of next month’s qualifiers will be joined by the winners of April’s FIBA Universality Qualifying Tournaments. Those were designed to offer a 3-on-3 Olympic berth to a nation that did not have a 5-on-5 team at the 2012 or 2016 Summer Games to complete the eight-team fields in Japan.

The time limit for each half-court game is 10 minutes. A normal two-point shot is worth one point and a normal three-point shot is worth two. The first team to 21 is the winner. If a team does not get to 21 points when time runs out, the team with the most points is declared the winner.

Who made the Men’s 3-on-3 USA Basketball Olympic Qualifying team?

The four men that will represent USA Basketball in next month’s qualifier are Canyon Barry, Robbie Hummel, Dominique Jones and Kareem Maddox.

Canyon Barry is the son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry. He began his college career at the University of Florida and played his final three years at the College of Charleston. He currently plays for the Iowa Wolves of the G League and was a member of the 2019 USA Basketball 3-on-3 World Cup team that won the gold medal with a 7-0 record.

Following a stellar career at Purdue University, Robbie Hummel was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2012 NBA draft. He had two stints in the Summer League but never made the main roster. After spending time overseas, he signed with the Denver Nuggets in 2016 but never played a regular season game. He retired from professional basketball in 2017 but continued his career on the 3-on-3 circuit.

Dominique Jones led Fort Hays State to two NCAA Tournament appearances and averaged close to 18 points his senior season. He was a member of the 3-on-3 team that won the gold medal at the Pan Am Games in Peru, leading the team in scoring with 7.1 points per game.

A standout at the University of Princeton, Kareem Maddox was an All-Ivy League First Team member in 2011, leading the Tigers to a conference championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. Maddox took MVP honors at the 2018 USA Basketball 3-on-3 National Championship.

Who made the Women’s 3-on-3 USA Basketball Olympic Qualifying Team?

The four women that will represent USA Basketball at next month’s qualifying tournament are Kelsey Plum, Allisha Gray, Stefanie Dolson and Napheesa Collier, all of whom have represented Team USA in the past.

Kelsey Plum left the University of Washington as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I history with 3,527 point. Plum also won the Wooden Award in 2016. She was drafted first overall in the 2017 WNBA draft by the San Antonio Stars and still plays for the team today, now known as the Las Vegas Aces.

After a dynamite college career, Allisha Gray was drafted number four overall in the 2017 WNBA draft and won Rookie of the Year for the Dallas Wings. She’s represented USA Basketball as part of the Women’s National Team the last three years.

A member of the 40-0 UConn team that won the NCAA title, Stefanie Dolson was drafted sixth overall by the Washington Mystics in 2014 and was traded to the Chicago Sky in 2017. She was a member of the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup team and holds a 30-2 record wearing a USA Basketball jersey.

Boasting an even better record as a member of USA Basketball at 39-0, Napheesa Collier rounds out the women’s squad. Another UConn alum, Collier was drafted sixth overall in the 2019 draft and won Rookie of the Year.

If either of these teams qualifies for the Olympics, rosters can be changed.