As expected, the U.S. qualified for the 2024 Olympic women’s and men’s 3x3 basketball tournaments via world rankings published Wednesday.
The U.S. ranked second behind China for the women and second behind Serbia for the men. The top three nations qualified for each tournament. The rest of the eight-team Olympic fields will be filled out at qualifying tournaments next year.
The U.S. women took gold in the event’s Olympic debut in Tokyo with WNBA standouts Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young.
In June, the U.S. won the World Cup with NCAA stars Cameron Brink (Stanford) and Hailey Van Lith (LSU transfer from Louisville), plus former WNBA players Cierra Burdick and Linnae Harper.
The U.S. men did not qualify for the Tokyo Olympics despite being reigning world champions.
At June’s World Cup, a U.S. men’s team headlined by 2011 NCAA Player of the Year Jimmer Fredette lost 21-19 to Serbia in the final. Serbia has won six of the eight world titles in men’s 3x3, plus Olympic bronze in Tokyo.
A committee will choose the U.S. men’s and women’s rosters of four players each for Paris. Each player must have recent 3x3 experience. Active NBA players are not expected to take part.
In 3x3, teams play outdoors on a half-court with a 10-minute game clock and 12-second shot clock. The first team to 21 points via one-point and two-point field goals wins, or whichever team is leading when time expires.
