The 3x3 Basketball Pathway [How Anyone Can Become A Professional Basketball Player]

3x3 has set out to do 1 thing.

Make the world of basketball more accessible for everyone on the planet.

The keyword in that is ‘accessible’.

But what exactly does this mean?

It means the game is able to reach more people, in more places, more often, while allowing them to enjoy the game more & give them more opportunities to play at a professional level.

And this last point is what we want to focus on today.

Playing Professionally [Why it Is a Worthy Goal For Players to Dream For]

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with playing basketball simply for the the joy of playing the game, it’s also incredibly important to have playing at a professional level of the game as a realistic reality for players. In other words, players can make playing the game financially sustainable & thus allow themselves to commit further towards their craft.

Just like any craft, basketball rewards its practitioners based on the amount of high-quality effort they put in. Put simply, the more time & energy that is applied to basketball, the better the practitioner becomes at it (yet it isn’t quite this simple. To see our complete guide on how to perfectly create your own training plan check out this article). Even if it’s only semi-professional, the sustainability & security that comes from knowing that you’re able to be financially rewarded for your efforts as a player & you can have the ability to look after yourself can not be understated for allowing players to move closer towards reaching their full potential.

Sports represent what human beings are capable of, providing a deep sense of inspiration & awe. This is an incredibly important part of our society. With this said, I firmly believe sports fundamentally exist for the service of the community & fans. If sporting clubs can’t make enough money to pay players & provide something fans enjoy, then the way the sport is delivered needs to be reassessed to make it more appealing. But that’s a story for another time.

With this in mind, I personally feel that by having professional forms of the game as a realistic target for more people, we can help to facilitate the ultimate benefits of what pursuing the craft of basketball can afford us. As someone who has seen first-hand how much more positive my life has become since deciding that I wanted to be the best player that I could be, this point cannot be understated. The sense of empowerment afforded to individuals who have an aspirational goal to chase is what helps create purpose & positive energy in our world.

And 3x3 has made this pathway to pro, that much more available to all of us.

3x3 The Only Sport Where You Can Go From The Streets To The Olympics

In the recent Tokyo 2021 Olympics, FIBA got behind a campaign that really sought to capture the essence of the 3x3 spirit.

As a hooper the video really gets the blood flowing.

In a nutshell, the catch cry “from the streets to the Olympics” perfectly encapsulates what the game is all about. An opportunity for players to get together & play in any given location. It rewards those who are best. Those who are good enough to make it to the next levels.

And it’s exciting.

This win your way to the top setup is what hoopers dream for. Every serious hooper wants to be able to step out on the floor & prove their ability. To show that they’re good enough to make it to the next level (in my experience, players that don’t want to do this, simply don’t feel confident that they’ve put in enough work to be good yet. But we can fix that). And 3x3 gives them that next level. If they’re good enough, it keeps giving them that next level, until they reach the top of the top.

This pathway is clear. Check out the full site here to explore your own 3x3 adventure.

The Domestic Pathway to Winning Your Way to The Top of Australian Competition. When You Win a CLB Elite Event, You Gain an Invitation to the National Final Which Then Has Challenger Representation Opportunities on the International Stage.

The International Pathway Leading On From The Domestic Pathway Pictured Above. Each Event On Here Is Held All Over the World Against Teams From Across the Globe.

Rankings: A Chance For Players To Know Where They Stand [Hacking Human Motivation]

Just like in America with their ranking system, 3x3 basketball has created a really nice way for players to get their name out there & further gamify the sport of basketball.

Where previously in Australia it was almost impossible to attribute a ranking to a player, with 3x3 there’s a really nice system for it. In 3x3 players are awarded ranking points based on every single tournament they play in. Higher-level events are given more points & stronger performances also award more points (i.e. finishing first awards maximum points). This gives players a clear quantification of their efforts, success & overall relative ranking.

The real beauty of this system is its ability to reward what’s current. Players can’t rely on prior performances for any more than 12 months, so it quickly sorts out those who are serious from the pretenders. While it is definitely still heavily weighted to those at the top, the CLB & FIBA pathway system provides a really nice map for players who are serious to really establish themselves on the 3x3 scene.

While a lot of people might think this is potentially harmful for players, in my experience it tends to have the opposite effect. One big gripe about elite-level basketball in Australia for a lot of younger players is the fact that they sometimes miss out on selection into representative sides. This is simply a function of the limited number of spaces & opportunities to show themselves as players. With 3x3 & the way Champions League Basketball runs its events, more & more games are being captured. Not only will players have a tangible ranking score based on their performance, but as they get older & more advanced, they will be able to get access to film of their games. Both of these things help to ensure players are able to take their progression into their own hands, making them more likely to be discovered.

At the end of the day, this not only allows teams of players to access the high levels of the game but also allows for individuals who are really serious about establishing themselves to be found out.

For national team selection, the country must choose 2 from the top 10 & another 2 from the top 100. This means players must be active on the 3x3 circuit to be eligible for selection. Australia can’t just go & get Patty Mills to play for Olympic gold in Paris 2024 for example, as he isn’t an active 3x3 player. This is really exciting for younger players as FIBA has national representation opportunities for the age groups of U16, U18, U23 & Opens, giving players years of opportunity to rise through the ranks & establish themselves as legitimate elite hoopers.

As a player, it cannot be understated just how critical this is for sustaining long term motivation. Honing the craft of basketball requires sacrifice. Having a constant acknowledgement of your efforts & real long term potential to go somewhere with the game is what makes it a no brainer for serious players to continue refining their craft. It’s human psychology 101.

Basketball, Friends, Travel [A Hoopers Dream]

The final and most important thing that I find makes the 3x3 basketball pathway so exciting is that it provides an opportunity for players to experience the absolute best things in life.

Personally, my 3 absolute favourite things on this plant are:

1. Having a Sense of Purpose.
2. Having Adventures & Travelling/ Seeing the World.
3. Being Able to Spend Time With Good Friends & Family.

And 3x3 basketball is about all of those things. It’s hard to find something that you love, which allows you to see a new place every single week & has the potential to financially reward you to spend time with your closest friends.

The travels I’ve had with teammates over the years have been some of my fondest memories about playing the sport of basketball (not just 3x3 but 5v5 also). With 3x3, being able to head to a tournament with 3 other players in the hopes of winning big is friggin exciting 💯.

And that’s not to mention how much fun training is. 3x3 is great because it's about getting together & simply hooping. We have to be able to practice outdoors & play a more free-flowing, street form of the game. This means we have to be able to adapt to getting a good game in anywhere. It gives us a structure as friends to get together & simply hoop, enjoying the real essence of why we got into the sport in the first place.

There are no rules to participation or no confined season. It’s all up to us to decide on how we want to train & which tournaments we want to participate in. This is unbelievable to experience as a player as it means you can focus on enjoying all aspects of the game and not all the rules of the typical 5v5 setting. The travel. Being with your friends. Getting to know players from another area. Simply hooping.

To me, this is the hoopers dream.

The video above really helps to capture what any group of friends could be when they get into 3x3. The sport is only growing from here. Now in it’s 14th year of existence it’s just started to emerge as a major international game. As it continues to grow, so will the opportunities for players to get wrapt up in the amazing benefits that basketball has to offer. The pathway is clear & the opportunity is there for the taking.

The ball is in your court. It’s up to you to choose to run with it…