It was recently announced that a new Olympic event will be added to the 2020 Tokyo games, as in addition to traditional 5-on-5 basketball there will also be 3-on-3 basketball.
While it is currently unclear what players what play in a tournament of that type, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James was recently asked if he would be interested.
James said that he would need to know more about the format before committing to play in something like that, and he also is a bit wary of how he game would translate to a 3-on-3 game, via Doug Feinberg of NBC Sports:
“It’s great for basketball,” he said. “For us to be able to add another category to the Olympics, another basketball category, I think it’s pretty great. I haven’t seen the full layout of how they plan on executing it … are they going to use NBA guys, are they going to use college guys. I’m not quite sure.
“I’m not very good in a 3-on-3 thing. I’m more of a 5-on-5 guy. I stay out of the 1-on-1 matchups during our practice, the 2-on-2 and the 3-on-3s. So probably not. I probably won’t be a part of the 3-on-3 matchup.”
James did name who he would want his teammates to be though if he could choose from any player that’s ever played:
LeBron James knows who his dream teammates would be in a 3-on-3 competition at the 2020 Olympics – Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.
A team of James, Michael Jordan, and Magic Johnson would be tough to beat, as they all have a tremendous combination of speed, six and athleticism. Both James and Johnson are more suited for the 5-on-5 game though because of their court vision and shooting liabilities.
James was also asked what current players he would want to be on a team with, and he said that he would have to think about that one.