Two summers ago, USA Basketball sent an old college coach to try to reel in a big-name recruit.
Fran Fraschilla journeyed to Denver in hopes of persuading Jimmer Fredette to leave traditional 5-on-5 basketball behind and to reinvent himself as the world’s most famous 3x3 player.
Since 3x3 players are required to accumulate points on the world tour in order to be eligible to play for their countries in the Olympics, USA Basketball could not simply select LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry and be done with it. It had to scramble to find players passed on by NBA and top-tier overseas clubs yet talented enough to challenge for a medal.