LOS ANGELES (FIBA 3x3) - Ramona Shelburne and other ESPN journalists published a collaborative article, advocating the inclusion of a FIBA 3x3 tournament with NBA's finest players at the NBA All-Star Game.

"If 3x3 can be an Olympic sport, why can't a 3x3 tournament be the All-Star Game," Shelburne asks.

Award-winning author Jackie MacMullan adds: 

"You know what I love about 3x3? You cannot hide. You cannot hide. You have to defend. Or you're going to get ridiculed."

"I like the 3x3," fellow writer Kevin Arnovitz says.

"There seems to be real momentum in the basketball world for this as a legitimate recreational pursuit."

On 9 June 2017, 3x3 was added to the Olympic Program, starting from the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Shelburne gives more details about the event:

"Players get to choose. You guys pair up, pick your team, pick your squad, 3x3."

Arnovitz goes further:

"So eight teams of three. And people love brackets. You're going to see the 24 best players in the world in the most organic setting, which is 3x3."

The writers even have a schedule in mind already:

MacMullan says: "The first round on Friday..."

"Yeah, gotta have a rest day. And All-Star Saturday night's got to be All-Star Saturday night. And then we'll be talking about the teams that won on Friday all weekend. We're going to have brackets. This is going to be like March Madness!"

Every single detail; Shelburne has it sorted. She even have a name for the event:

"And we call it the All-Star Cup".

This idea garnered positive reviews on social media, with several fans and media supporting the addition of a FIBA 3x3 event at the NBA All-Star Game.

FIBA