2024 Olympics: USA Men’s 3×3 Team Eliminated After 21-6 Loss to Netherlands

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PARIS — On the verge of elimination and down a man due to injury, Team USA’s men’s 3×3 team faced the Netherlands in the final game of the Olympic pool round. They were ousted and lost 21-6.

With NBA commissioner Adam Silver in attendance, the teams took the court at 7:00 p.m. Paris time, the setting sun casting long shadows across the asphalt of the Place de la Concorde directly behind the backboard. Team USA was introduced first, with the injured Jimmer Fredette the first player to emerge from the tunnel. Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis would play every minute of the game against the Netherlands.

Travis got Team USA’s first points with a two-pointer from the left side, but the USA looked battered in the opening minutes, allowing easy backdoor baskets and an alley-oop, throwing up multiple shots and committing turnovers due to travel and shot-clock violations. Still, the defense kept Team USA in the game in the opening minutes.

The Netherlands took a 5-4 lead after just three minutes of play and quickly extended it to 12-5 with a series of two-point shots just before the halfway point. The Netherlands’ defense and shooting were simply too much for the United States and as the score reached 15-6, the frustration was clearly visible on Team USA’s part. Maddox committed a hard foul on Worthy de Jong, causing him to fall to the ground, resulting in a technical foul and allowing the Netherlands to extend their lead to 17-6.

De Jong kept shooting and kept hitting, and when a timeout mercifully halted the action, the Netherlands led 19-6. Fredette tried to rally his teammates, but by then it was far too late. With one final shot, De Jong made a two-pointer to end the game and Team USA’s Olympic run, 21-6.

In the minutes after the game, the players stood behind the Place de la Concorde arena, catching their breath and looking up at the Parisian sky. Maddox spoke about the challenges of fielding a 3×3 team, where the funding and opportunities simply don’t exist in the United States like they do in other countries.

“It’s not visible, except every four years in the United States,” he said. “There’s no professional tournaments there. The closest we get is probably Edmonton, Canada. … The team we just played has been building and refining that same team for seven years for this moment, and we’re just in a little bit of a different situation. They’re all full-time 3×3 guys.”

“We’ve got ‘USA’ on our chest, we’re supposed to win,” Travis said. “People who don’t know 3×3 are going to see this and think,What the hell are these guys doing? They’re horrible. But when you know the game, it’s almost impossible to win at this stage. It’s so intense and it takes so much out of you. To win two games, and two of them came at the last minute, was a great achievement for us.”