US women secure first-ever gold medal for 3×3 basketball

Team USA took home their first gold medal in the inaugural 3×3 basketball tournament at the 2021 Olympics. 

The 3×3 basketball tournament has been a godsend after what I’ve seen in Olympic basketball so far for the United States. With the men’s team losing two big exhibition games and not seeing Nneka get the opportunity to play for the U.S. or Nigeria, the OG basketball tournament was not giving what it was supposed to give.

But the 3×3 tournament has been entertaining since it came on the scene in this Olympic cycle. The streetball-esque style of play provides much-needed energy in a sea of slower, more plodding organized sports

So it makes it even sweeter that the women’s squad for Team USA comes out with a W and some gold medals after all of the duds that came to start.

Team USA’s women’s 3×3 squad defeated the Russian Olympic Committee 18-15

After the struggles the women’s team dealt with, it’s sweet to see them come out on top for this tournament.

With Katie Lou Samuelson contracting COVID just days before the opening ceremony, Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces came in ready to work. It also helps that Young is a teammate of Kelsey Plum so the chemistry is already there.

The WNBA is a sisterhood, so camaraderie is almost instantaneous. With just half of a court and three players, you’ll need all the chemistry you can possibly get. But honestly, it was almost as if they could have just handed them the gold medal at this point.

Nonetheless, it feels good to see women’s basketball keep getting better and better and for them to prove it on the world’s biggest stage at the Olympics.