The advantage the Dutch built early 

The Netherlands’ success in 3×3 did not begin with Olympic gold in Paris.

The men were already World Cup runners-up in 2017 and 2018, and won Europe Cup bronze in 2016 and 2022. As mentioned above, the women are two-time Europe Cup winners (2023, 2025), World Cup champions in 2025 and bronze medallists in 2026.

So how did a nation traditionally associated with football, hockey, and winter sports build such a formidable 3×3 program?

For Jan, the explanation is fairly simple: the Netherlands committed early.

“Of course, in 5×5 we were never a top team, and we managed to do it in 3×3,” he says. “We started really early with investing in 3×3. We saw the potential as a country. We had some players who really did everything for basketball — we had the first players who went full-time, when [professional 3×3] wasn’t a thing. Back in the day everyone played 5×5, and in the summer they did 3×3. We had guys who went professional as one of the first, and then you build an advantage. You gain [tactical] advantages over your opponents.

“And I think we kept that. There’s a really big structure, a professional organisation with good coaches, strength and conditioning coaches — everything is there. If you believe in something, and you spend time on it, you spend money on it, then you can achieve World Championships and Olympic championships.”