Basketball in 40 mph winds? Inside the wild world of 3×3 hoops

LAS VEGAS — Whether it’s weathering Olympic-strength sailing winds or taking aim during a Malaysian monsoon, 3×3 basketball players are used to challenging conditions to say the least.

The Olympics first sanctioned 3×3 play for the 2020 Games in Tokyo, though Team USA didn’t qualify for the men’s tournament as Latvia — the West Virginia-sized Baltic nation of 1.8 million — took gold.

So when the U.S. men open this Olympic tournament on July 30 in Paris against Germany, it could be the first time many Americans see this fast-paced, half-court version of James Naismith’s game.

The most jarring scene will be that games are played outdoors where weather, like wind and rain, can alter long-range shots.

Team USA’s Canyon Barry said conditions can be “definitely challenging” and offered up the most understated analysis of the sport.

“Obviously, we’re a team that shoots the ball pretty well,” said Barry, the son of NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry and a former standout himself at Florida and College of Charleston. “So when we’re playing in 30 or 40 mph winds, it’s not always the best for us.”

And that’s not hyperbole.

Longtime USA 3×3 coach Joe Lewandowski recalled having his team play in Marseille, France, the scene of the Olympic sailing competition, where they had no choice but to “figure it out.”

“It was insane,” said Lewandowski, who played at Division II Slippery Rock in the 1990s, said of the FIBA 3×3 Men’s World Tour in May. “It was one of those ones where you shoot it and you’re like, ‘OK maybe I have to shoot it 5 feet right for it to maybe go left.’ My guess is FIBA will begin to say, ‘We have to legislate that out. We have to either delay the game or change it because it affects how the game is played.’ But right now, you got to figure (the surroundings) out.”

Veteran 3×3 player and former Princeton star Kareem Maddox not-so-fondly recalled the 2018 Penang World Tour event that presented challenges he never faced inside storied Jadwin Gym.

“There was a literal typhoon in Malaysia and rain was blowing in sideways,” he said. “They tried to get us to finish the game, and then at some point guys were just sliding all over the floor. ”

In a key scene from the 1992 basketball classic “White Men Can’t Jump,” the wind plays a key role as Woody Harrelson’s hoopster hustler Billy Hoyle gets into the head of street baller Sidney Deane, played by Wesley Snipes.

“Sidney, I noticed that that wind was kicking up a bit on my last shot,” Harrelson slyly tells Snipes before a big shot. “You might want to adjust about 6 to 8 inches to the left.”

Fans of the film will remember that the mind games continued.

“Don’t worry, Sidney, I’ve hustled a hell of a lot better players than you before,” Harrelson’s Hoyle then whispered. “Don’t put up no brick.”

With the wind and doubt rattling Snipes’ character, he clanked it.

Mother Nature should be a good sport for the 3×3 basketball players in Paris. August is the calmest month of the year in the city, with average hourly wind speed of 8.1 mph. Temperatures usually top out in the high 70s with little rain.

And with this being the Olympics, large stands for spectators should help. A FIBA-standard, tent-like covering is expected to block the non-sideways wind. The official 3×3 ball is also a tad smaller with ridges, designed to withstand some of the wind’s force, players and coaches said.

Of course, just being able to see the basket they’re shooting at isn’t always a given.

“You might get a day where it’s super sunny and you can’t see the rim,” Lewandowski said. “So you have to find ways of winning. Guys have to diversify themselves. But that’s where that IQ comes into play.”