What Does 3×3 Mean In Basketball?

3×3 (also known as 3 on 3) is a form of condensed basketball with three players on each team and it is played with half a basketball court on a single hoop. 3×3 basketball has recently been adopted by the Olympics as an official Olympics event and will also be in the commonwealth games in 2022. FIBA also host an annual tournament called the FIBA 3×3 World Tour with a 6 figure price pot for the winners. FIBA taking interest in 3×3 basketball and making it a part of their events lineup has given 3×3 a lot of legitimacy in the past few years. There is also the Big3 basketball league started by Ice Cube that changes a few things to up the entertainment factor but maintains the essence of 3×3 basketball and has been nationally televised and watched online the world over which has helped bring more exposure to the 3×3 form of basketball. The Big3 league has many retired nba players and stars who participate in it and even players who are trying to break into the NBA.

How Did 3×3 Basketball Start?

3×3 basketball started in the very cities and suburbs that you live in, it began as a street game for people that struggled to get 10 people together to play a 5×5 game, for a lot of people its much easier to get 6 people together at the same time than 10. To accomodate this lower player count 3×3 basketball was and still is played on a single hoop using half the court whether its the pro game or the street game. Many organisations and people such as Hoop It Up and Gus Macker have been organising street 3×3 tournaments in various cities for many years and some could argue brought enough popularity to the condensed 3×3 game to get it adopted by FIBA and other leagues worldwide.

What Are The Rules For Street 3×3 Basketball?

Many rules are the same as regular basketball, for example fouls are still fouls and out of bounds is still out of bounds but many of the rules can be different as the rules for street 3×3 basketball can vary from person to person and place to place, so its always best to establish your rules from the beginning with your opponnents to avoid and confusion or frustration. However in general these rules tend to be the ones that are used by most people:

• If teams are not decided prior there will usually be either two captains that take turns picking from the pool of players available or all players will shoot three pointers to see who is on who’s team, the first three to make them get put on the same team.

• After teams are decided a player from one of the teams will shoot a three pointer to decide which team starts with the ball, if he makes it his team starts and if he missed his opponents get to start with the ball. The shooter is usually one of the players who volunteers to take the deciding shot.
• 3×3 Uses only half of the basketball court so anything going out of that half is considered out of bounds.
• Play always starts with the offensive player with the ball outside the three point line, usually at the top of the three point arc.
• Play begins when the defense is ready, to make sure of this the offensive player will “check” the ball to his primary defender who will pass the ball back when he and his team are ready to start the possession. “Checking” is just a simple pass from the two opposing players to make sure they are ready to play. Once the ball has been passed or “checked” back to the offensive player he can start the possession.
• If a team scores in 3×3 basketball they get to start with the ball for the next possession unlike 5×5 basketball where the defending team gets it. This means that a defending team in 3×3 basketball has to either force a turnover or a missed shot to be able to get the ball and start their own offensive possession. This usually makes the 3×3 form of basketball more physical as defense is of utmost importance.
• If the defending team gain possesion of the ball they must “clear” it. To clear the ball they must either dribble outside the three point arc or pass the ball to a teammate beyond it, once the ball as been cleared out beyond the three point line the next offensive possesion can begin. This is to prevent players getting defensive rebounds under the hoops and just putting them in and gives both teams a chance to adjust for the next possession. However the ball does not need to be cleared if a defender catches an airball and they can just put those into the basket, a shot must hit rim to qualify for clearing and this punishes players throwing up bad shots.
• Free Throws are not a part of street 3×3 basketball, instead the team that is fouled gets the ball back at the top of the three point arc and can start their possession again fresh.
• In street 3×3 basketball all shots inside the arc are worth 1 point and any coming from outside are worth 2 and teams usually play to 11 or 21 although any number can be used if both teams agree to it.
• Most of the time based rules are not present in street 3×3, for example three seconds rule, five seconds rule and the shot clock rule are not present. Although if you hold the ball for too long the other players might get annoyed with you so keep that in mind when you play and dont ruin the experience for everyone else.

Street basketball of any form is a great way to meet people and make like minded friends, its also a great way to play against a big variety of other players whenever you want (time and weather permitting). 3×3 basketball games are a lot of fun at the local basketball courts and its good to see that its becoming more widely adopted with its own pro leagues.

FIBA 3×3 Basketball Rules

Many of the FIBA 3×3 rules are similar or the same to the street ones with these few differences:

• FIBA 3×3 has  two referees so there’s less bickering among players when disagreements arise over certain foul calls.
• FIBA also uses a 12 second shot clock to keep the game flowing quick and stop play from stalling.
• FIBA also gives free throws in their form of 3×3, 1 for a foul on a 1point shot and 2 for a foul on a 2point shot. Each free throw is worth 1 point.
• Its either first team to 21 points or whichever team has a higher score after 10 mins of play that wins.
• Each team has 1 reserve player they can sub into the game.
• The starting team is determined by a coin flip, the victor of the flip can choose to have starting possession at the beginning of the game or a possible overtime.
• If the scores are tied at the end of regulation then an overtime will be played with the first team to score two points being declared the winner.
• On the 7th team foul the opposing team gets two free throws instead of one.
• Unsportmanlike fouls result in 2 free throws and possession for the team that they were done to.
• Substitutions can only occur on dead balls.
• Each team has one timeout they can use and two more tv time outs after a certain amount of time has elapsed. Timeouts last for 30 seconds only.