Shortly after his team reached the final of a 3x3 basketball Olympic test event, Masahiro Komatsu held up an umbrella to shield himself from a light rain as he eagerly explained the appeal of his sport, which will be making its Olympic debut this summer.
While it might sound strange in this era of COVID-19 and social distancing, Komatsu, a national team candidate, said one of the charms of 3x3 basketball was how close you could be to everything.
”I think you got to see it up close today,” Komatsu said during the test event at Aomi Urban Sports Park on an overcast Sunday afternoon in Tokyo’s Koto Ward. “I think that proximity is one of the charms of 3x3. In the five-man game, sometimes you’re far away. In 3x3, you’re really able to see the players because you’re so close.”