3x3 (basketball)

3x3 (pronounced 3 on 3, 3 by 3 or 3x3), known also as streetball or street basketball is a form of the game played three a side on one hoop. It is the largest urban team sport of the world (ESSEC study commissioned by IOC). This basketball discipline is currently being promoted and structured by FIBA the sport's governing body. Its main competition is an annual FIBA 3X3 World Tour, comprising a series of Masters and one Final tournament awarding six-figure prize money in US dollars. The FIBA 3x3 World Championships is the highest tournament for national 3x3 teams.

History

3x3 has been a basketball format always played, albeit in a less formal way. The first large 3x3 competition was launched in 1989 by USA-based Hoop It Up, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2014. They state to have reached over 500,000 athletes in this period. Adidas launched its now-discontinued streetball competition in 1992. Since then, the number of 3x3 events and competitions has been steadily growing all around the world.

USA Basketball

USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympic Committee. Its Chairman of the Board is Jerry Colangelo and its executive director is Jim Tooley.

The organization was founded in 1974 as the Amateur Basketball Association of the United States of America (ABAUSA). It was renamed to USA Basketball on October 12, 1989, after FIBA modified its rules to allow professional basketball players to compete in international competitions. USA Basketball is responsible for the selection and training of the men's and women's teams that represent the United States in international tournaments, including the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men, the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, Games of the Olympiad and the men's and women's qualifiers therefore, as well as for the promotion of the sport amongst prospective players, spectators, and fans.

Red Bull

Red Bull is an energy drink sold by Austrian company Red Bull GmbH, created in 1987. In terms of market share, Red Bull is the highest-selling energy drink in the world, with 5.387 billion cans sold in 2013.

Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz was inspired by an existing energy drink named Krating Daeng, which was first invented and sold in Thailand. He took this idea, modified the ingredients to suit the tastes of Westerners, and, in partnership with Chaleo Yoovidhya, founded Red Bull GmbH in 1987 in Chakkapong, Thailand. In Thai, daeng means red, and krating is the large bovine called "gaur". Red Bull is sold in a tall and slim blue-silver can, while Krating Daeng is in a gold shorter can. The two are different products, produced separately.

The Red Bull company slogan is "Red Bull gives you wings", and the product is marketed through advertising, events (Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, Red Bull Air Race, Red Bull Crashed Ice), sports team ownerships (RB Leipzig, FC Red Bull Salzburg, Red Bull Brasil, New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso), celebrity endorsements, and music, through its record label Red Bull Records.

Basketball

Basketball is a sport played by two teams of five players on a rectangular court. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter and 10 feet (3.048 m) high mounted to a backboard at each end.

A team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the shooting team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line, and two points if shot from in front of the line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, after the other team was assessed with certain fouls. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time (overtime) is issued when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by throwing it to a teammate, or by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling). It is a violation to lift, or drag, one's pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling.

World championship

A world championship is generally an international sports competition open to elite competitors from across the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport or contest.

The title is usually awarded through a combination of specific contests or, less commonly, ranking systems (e.g. the ICC Test Championship), or a combination of the two (e.g. World Triathlon Championships in Triathlon). This determines a 'world champion', who or which is commonly considered the best nation, team, individual (or other entity) in the world in a particular field, although the vagaries of sport ensure that the competitor recognised at the best in an event is not always the 'world champion' (see Underdog).

Certain sports do not have a world championship, instead they may organise a world cup competition, or they may organize both. Often, the use of the term cup or championship in this sense is just a choice of words. Some sports have multiple champions because of multiple organizations such as mixed martial arts, boxing and wrestling.