3x3 Basketball at LA28: A Bigger Tournament, a New Arena in the Valley and One Huge Medal Night

Why LA28 3x3 deserves a place on your ticket list

When people think of Olympic basketball, they picture the 5x5 tournament at the Intuit Dome. But LA28 has a second basketball event that is easy to overlook and, for many fans, just as much fun: 3x3. It is fast, loud and short, with games capped at 10 minutes of play and sessions packed with several matchups. It also has its own venue, its own week, and a medal night on which four Olympic titles are decided in a single evening.

From a ticket-hunting perspective, 3x3 matters for another reason: it is a second route into Olympic basketball if 5x5 sessions at the Intuit Dome prove hard to get when LA28’s next sale opens in 2027. You still see Olympic basketball, with medals on the line, in a setting built for it.

3x3 basketball in 60 seconds

If you have never watched it, here is the short version of FIBA’s rules. Games are played on a half court with one basket. Each team has four players, three on the court and one substitute. Baskets inside the arc count for one point, shots from beyond it count for two, and free throws count for one. There is a 12-second shot clock. A game ends when one team reaches 21 points or after 10 minutes of play, whichever comes first; if it is tied after 10 minutes, overtime continues until a team scores two points.

The result is constant transition, no time to settle and lots of close endings. At Paris 2024, the men’s final between the Netherlands and France went to overtime and finished 18-17. The women’s final, Germany against Spain, ended 17-16. Those margins tell you a lot about the format.

What changes at LA28: twelve 3x3 teams per gender

At Paris 2024, Olympic 3x3 had eight teams per gender. For Los Angeles, the IOC Executive Board approved an expansion to 12 teams per gender, which FIBA announced as a major step for the discipline. More teams means more games, more sessions and more countries with a chance to compete.

The LA28 schedule reflects that growth. There is a five-day pool round, then a dedicated play-in session before the quarter-finals. The detailed bracket rules for 12 teams (who goes straight to the quarter-finals and who goes through the play-in) are defined by FIBA’s competition system; we will add them here once the official LA28 tournament regulations are published.

The LA28 3x3 week, session by session

All times are Pacific Time, at Valley Complex 3:

Date (2028)	Round	Sessions
Sun July 16	Pool round	14:00, 17:30, 21:00
Mon July 17	Pool round	14:00, 17:30, 21:00
Tue July 18	Pool round	14:00, 17:30, 21:00
Wed July 19	Pool round	14:00, 17:30, 21:00
Thu July 20	Pool round	14:00, 17:30, 21:00
Fri July 21	Play-in, then quarter-finals	14:00 (play-in); 17:30 and 21:00 (quarter-finals)
Sat July 22	Semi-finals, then medal session (session BK320)	17:00 (semi-finals), then men’s and women’s bronze and gold medal games

Saturday, July 22 is the standout date: semi-finals and all four medal games for both genders in one evening. It is also the day the women’s 5x5 quarter-finals start at the Intuit Dome, so basketball fans will be spread across the city. The full combined calendar is on our LA28 basketball schedule.

Valley Complex 3 and the Sepulveda Basin: home of 3x3

3x3 is not played at the Intuit Dome. Its home is Valley Complex 3, a temporary venue in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in the San Fernando Valley, in LA28’s Valley zone. FIBA describes an octagonal design. The site is part of a shared park hub with BMX freestyle, BMX racing and skateboarding, which gives it an urban-sports identity quite different from an NBA arena. The seating capacity has not been published in our sources.

Because the Sepulveda Basin is far from Inglewood, plan a 3x3 day as its own outing. Our venues guide covers travel and where to stay.

How teams qualify for LA28 3x3 basketball

FIBA has published the route to Los Angeles. For each gender, the 12 places are split as follows:

• 1 place for the host, the USA.
• 5 places via the FIBA 3x3 Federation Ranking, allocated by region, based on the ranking as of December 1, 2027.
• 6 places via qualifying events from March to June 2028: two from a Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament, two from a Ranking-based Olympic Qualifying Tournament, one for the cup winner of the Olympic Qualifier Series and one via the Olympic Qualifier Series combined ranking.

The practical consequence: most of the 3x3 field will be known only in spring 2028, a few months before the Games, and some places will be decided as late as June. If you are following a specific country, the ranking cut-off of December 1, 2027 is the first date to watch. The 5x5 qualification path is explained separately on our teams and qualification page.

Paris 2024: the 3x3 benchmark

The last Olympic 3x3 tournament ended on August 5, 2024 in Paris. In the men’s event, the Netherlands beat France 18-17 in overtime for gold, and Lithuania took bronze. In the women’s event, Germany beat Spain 17-16, and the USA won bronze. Those results say nothing definitive about 2028, since rosters change and 3x3 careers move fast, but they are a reminder that in 3x3, one or two possessions can decide a gold medal.

For American fans, the host place guarantees a USA team in both genders. USA Basketball had not announced 3x3 players or staff for LA28 as of October 9, 2026, and we do not speculate about names.

LA28 3x3 tickets, and how to get alerted

3x3 tickets are sold through the same official channel as all LA28 tickets. LA28 says its next sale is a first-come, first-served release in 2027, with refreshed inventory across all sports and no purchase limits; the date had not been announced as of October 9, 2026. LA28 has not published a per-session price list for 3x3 in its press releases. Official hospitality packages from On Location include 3x3 options. Check the LA28 ticketing page for current status, and read our ticket guide to prepare.

Our free alert sends you an email when that sale opens and when LA28 launches a new phase, including verified resale in 2027. We are an independent guide, not affiliated with LA28, the IOC or FIBA, and we never sell tickets.