TOKYO — A seemingly very American sport debuted at the Olympics here on Saturday without a team of American men. 3x3 basketball looks like it was designed in a Chicago playground lab, with the express purpose of adding to Team USA’s medal haul. And it probably will, on the women’s side.
But on the men’s side, a team of four non-NBA players fell short at a May qualifying tournament in Austria. So Day 1 of 3x3 hoops at the Aomi Urban Sports Park became two things: a crash course in the adolescent sport for newcomers, and a spark for fantasies about what a Team USA of NBA All-Stars could look like.