This basketball game format is currently being promoted and structured by FIBA, the sport's governing body.

[2] Its primary competition is an annual FIBA 3X3 World Tour,[3] comprising a series of Masters and one Final tournament, and awarding six-figure prize money in US dollars.

The FIBA 3x3 World Cups for men and women are the highest tournaments for national 3x3 teams.

3x3 has been a basketball format long played in streets and gyms across the world, albeit in a less formal way.

Starting in the late 2000s, 3x3 game rules started to become standardized throughout the United States, most notably through the Gus Macker[4] and Hoop It Up[5] tournament series, which held large events across the country that included teams and players from all skill levels.

FIBA launched a full program to make 3x3 a standalone game with its own format and regular competitions.

[14] A coin toss is held immediately before the game, and the winning team of the coin flip can choose to take possession of the ball at the start of the game, or take the first possession of a potential overtime period.

After a made goal or free throw (except for technical or unsportsmanlike fouls and team fouls 10 or more; see below), play restarts with a player from the non-scoring team taking the ball directly under the basket and then dribbling or passing it to a point behind the arc.

An offensive player may also not dribble inside the arc with their back or side to the basket for more than 3 consecutive seconds.

There is a Trent Tucker Rule in which with up to 0.2 seconds left in regulation or on the shot clock, a high lob, or tip-in must be made.

A tie in regulation time leads to an untimed overtime period, after a one-minute intermission.

The un-timed overtime period is considered extension of regulation for purpose of team fouls.

At the same time, it is the easiest and one of the most-effective ways to bring youngsters to basketball, keep them and promote our game.

The men's and women's NBA 3X champions then advance to the USA Basketball national 3x3 championship to potentially represent their country internationally.

In 2017, entertainer Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz founded BIG3, where former NBA and US college basketball stars compete in a traveling league using rules slightly different from the FIBA rulebook, and also using a ball that meets the specifications for the men's full-court game instead of the FIBA 3x3 ball.

According to The New York Times, 3x3 has "an unusual qualifying system designed to grow the sport all year long as much as find the best teams for the World Cup.

"[22] The current concentration of ranking events in Europe makes it more difficult for non-European nations, especially the US, to qualify.

The aforementioned FIBA executive, when asked about the prospect of the 2020 Olympic debut of 3x3 potentially lacking any participation from the US, admitted that "a lot of teams want to beat the US.

"[22] After the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, FIBA established a regular World Cup that always includes men and women competing simultaneously in open, U23 and U18 categories.