Sports
Kareem Maddox, American 3×3 basketball player, is working hard to get to the Olympics
PARIS – For Kareem Maddox and the struggling USA 3×3 men’s basketball team, their anticipated path to a medal at the Paris Olympics will likely be derailed. But for the American, simply making it to the Olympics from a singular Ivy League path has made his journey unforgettable.
“It’s been an absolutely beautiful experience,” Maddox told Andscape. “I’m enjoying it with my family, having the full support of everyone I’ve worked with at USA Basketball, all in one place. I can’t wait to reflect on it when it’s all said and done. But we’re keeping our heads down, still working hard.”
Since 2015, Maddox has been certainly one of the most decorated Americans in the short history of 3×3 basketball, a discipline that may appear on the Olympic program in 2020.
The Los Angeles-born player has played for the U.S. in two FIBA 3×3 World Cups, two FIBA 3×3 Men’s AmeriCups and two Pan American Games. Maddox was a member of the U.S. men’s 3×3 national team that went 3-2 in the 2021 FIBA 3×3 Olympic qualifying tournament. He is also a member of the USA Basketball 3×3 men’s team, together with former NBA point guard Jimmer Fredette, Dylan Travis and Canyon Berry. The U.S. was 0-4 with Fredette sidelined with an injury before Friday’s first group-stage victory, 21-19 against host France.
“I won’t lie, it was a tough time on the court,” Maddox said. “The rules and the length of the game make it unpredictable enough. Then you think about every thing that happened outside of that, and you’ve gotten a tournament that is like this. The game is the game.
“It’s not over yet. We’re still fighting. I’ve seen worse things happen. We just have to dig deeper.”
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Maddox was born on December 9, 1989, in Los Angeles to an African-American father and a Sudanese mother whose father was once the director of the Sudanese boxing federation. Maddox’s father, Alan, had been to several Summer Olympics and worked as a volunteer at the media center. Kareem Maddox was able to go to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he dreamed of becoming an Olympian.
Before specializing in basketball, Kareem Maddox grew up playing other sports, reminiscent of track, tennis, water polo, and cross-country, at his father’s request. Maddox was not a widely known basketball player in Los Angeles when he played at suburban Oak Park High School. The late-blooming 6-foot-8 winger didn’t play AAU basketball and was not a sought-after recruit by Division I programs. Alan Maddox, nonetheless, believed his son had the talent and grades to play college basketball at an Ivy League school.
In the summer of 2007, Alan Maddox sent his son to an elite basketball camp at Princeton. Then-head coach Joe Scott was impressed with Kareem’s play at the camp and commenced recruiting him. Penn, Harvard, Yale and Puget Sound showed interest during his senior season, but Kareem Maddox signed a letter of intent to play for Princeton on February 7, 2007.
“I didn’t play AAU or have any recruiting experience, so nobody had heard of me, I didn’t have any letters,” Kareem Maddox said. “So we flew out to New Jersey and just signed up for Princeton’s elite camp. I used to be like, ‘Okay, whatever, this sounds cool.’ So I played, Joe Scott was the coach, and I used to be just with the other campers. But I played pretty much. I used to be an athlete and a superb, decent basketball player, but probably not that sophisticated.
“(Scott) said, ‘Who are you and where are you going to school? How’s college going? And I said, ‘Oh no, I don’t have any letters. I don’t know if I’m going to play basketball in college.’ He said, ‘Well, can you come here? How are your grades?’ I said, ‘They’re good. I have a 3.8, 3.9 (grade point average). And I don’t know if they’re good enough for Princeton.’ He said, ‘I’ll worry about that. You don’t worry about that.’ And the rest is history.”
Maddox averaged 7.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game during his profession at Princeton from 2007 to 2011. As a senior in 2010-11, the 2011 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year averaged 14 points, 6.9 rebounds and a team-high 1.7 blocks per game. He also holds a level in English literature.
After Princeton, Maddox played professionally in the Netherlands and England for 2 seasons. In 2013, he retired from basketball and have become a news producer for Los Angeles radio station KCRW. Maddox also hosted NPR’s All Things Considered, which focused on vital public affairs.
Maddox began playing 3-on-3 basketball for Ariel Slow and Steady in 2015, which finished fourth in the 2015 USA Basketball 3×3 Nationals. His desire to return to basketball grew after watching the Cleveland Cavaliers come from 3-1 down in the 2016 NBA Finals to defeat the Golden State Warriors. In the summer of 2016, he traveled to Las Vegas and took part in basketball tryouts with foreign teams searching for players. This led to him working as knowledgeable basketball player in Poland during the 2016-17 season after a three-year hiatus.
“I was more surprised when he came out of retirement and decided to come back and play 5-on-5 in Poland again because his radio and TV career was going so well,” said Alan Maddox. “I would say I was 50-50 on that. But again, by that time he had the skills and the education to support himself even if it didn’t work out or if it did work out. It worked out in the end. We’re really happy for him.”
Lars Baron/Getty Images
In 2017, the International Olympic Committee announced that 3×3 basketball can be added to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. That’s when Maddox began to consider his Olympic dream could come true. In 2018, he earned MVP honors as Ariel Slow and Steady won the 2018 USA Basketball 3×3 Nationals title. It was that honor that led to his first time on the USA Basketball 3×3 roster as a member of the gold-medal-winning team at the inaugural 3×3 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
Maddox has had other interests outside of 3×3 basketball over the years, including work in media. He has been a journalist for NPR member stations in Los Angeles and Colorado. He has produced each day newscasts and hosted “All Things Considered” for a statewide audience on KUNC News. He has produced podcasts for Spotify-acquired Gimlet Media. He also produced “The Pitch,” a real inside take a look at the enterprise capital fundraising process.
Maddox didn’t make it to the NBA, but he became a component of it through the Minnesota Timberwolves. He lives in Minneapolis, where he works for the Timberwolves in video, scouting and player development. Maddox was hired by Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, whose younger brother, Dan, was the director of basketball operations at Princeton when Maddox played there.
“I’ll be out there warming up and shooting and stuff like that,” Maddox said. “Whatever they need. I’ll jump into practice if I need to. And then I’ll just put together some videos for the scouts.”
Maddox was devastated when the USA Basketball 3×3 team failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, the U.S. qualified for the Paris Olympics after ending second at the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Serbia.
“I felt grateful working out and training for the last three years that I was able to do it, that I was healthy enough and fortunate enough,” Maddox said.
Alan Maddox is a part of a bunch of relations cheering on Kareem Maddox in France. Alan Maddox hopes more kids will get involved in sports by watching the Olympics.
“Only a limited number of people will be in the major leagues, but anyone can play an Olympic sport in their youth, high school, college and, in many cases, professionally,” said Alan Maddox. “Some of the most amazing people I meet are athletes who’re much more amazing of their careers outside of the Olympics. They have amazing careers because, again, coming back to those sports and specializing in something and having the ability to concentrate on something and stick to it, that’s just a very good thing, so far as I’m concerned…
“We saw (Kareem’s) work, discipline and travel. We were really excited to see that when someone puts that much effort into something, they succeed. That’s not an easy thing to do.”
Medal or no medal, the Olympic experience was definitely memorable for Maddox. While most of the American athletes stayed in the Olympic Village, all of the USA Basketball teams stayed in a secure hotel in Paris.
That means Maddox and the USA Basketball 3×3 men’s and girls’s teams will likely be staying at the same hotel as NBA stars LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, and WNBA stars A’ja Wilson, Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart, who’re all members of their senior national teams. The Olympic 3×3 competition is also happening in the heart of Paris at La Concorde, a city park that has been transformed into a brief outdoor arena that also hosts BMX freestyle, breaking and skateboarding competitions.
“We’re just keeping a small footprint. And no, no, we’re definitely not trying to take pictures with anyone or anything like that,” Maddox said. “We’re hoping to get tickets to the finale, but we’ll be there to watch them.”
Playing basketball has given Maddox the opportunity to visit some 25 countries, and he’s enjoyed every trip. He’ll be 38 when the 2028 Olympics are held in Los Angeles. If USA Basketball still wants him on the roster, he’d like to try to win a 3×3 medal on American soil. In the meantime, he plans to proceed playing for the Timberwolves and begin a each day podcast.
“I’ll play as long as it makes sense, as long as I love it and enjoy it,” Maddox said. “It’s been the biggest blessing. It’s just every thing I like to do. It’s the traveling. It’s the time to myself while I’m traveling. It’s the competition, and also you only play for the weekend, after which you’ve gotten time to do whatever you wish.
“I’m going to try to get as much out of it as I can. And at this level, who knows? We’ll see. I think the game is evolving and it’s going to be harder and harder for a 38-year-old at this point to make it to 2028.”
The legend of NBA, Tim Duncan, recently got here out to the sport of San Antonio Spurs, not looking like a fan -remembered fan player.
The five -time NBA champion, once known for his close hair, is now swaying on the shoulders, frameting his face next to the total beard. These well -maintained dreadlocks completely transformed Hall of Famer into someone who is nearly not recognizable for individuals who watched them dominate within the league for 19 seasons.
The dramatic change of haircut didn’t happen overnight, and although his dreadlocks on the time were widely reported when he gave an acceptance speech through the Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Naismith basketball in 2021, Duncan’s word caused an avalanche of headers with a “great fundamental evolution of favor.
Today we now have Tim Duncan in practice. pic.twitter.com/eeobfvqqal
– Matthew Tynan (@matthew_tynan) November 13, 2024
When Duncan appeared in San Antonio Frost Bank Center to observe his Spurs faced Golden State Warriors on March 30-when his old team lost 148-106-Svobodny fans were shocked with his recent appearance within the photo with their girlfriend, the star of reality Vanessa Macias, 44.
15 times All-Star Sat Courtside with Macias, who wore a full glam with loose curls and had proudly San Antonio equipment. Duncan selected a free outfit with a raglan -style shirt with camouflage sleeves, not team goods, perhaps symbolizing his evolution except that he’s a basketball icon.
What happens to Tim Duncan? pic.twitter.com/qhpg5jghtg
– Hoops (@hoopmixonly) March 31, 2025
Many jumped on X with the comments of shock to a brand new appearance when the fan asked: “What is happening to Tim Duncan?”
One person joked: “He is comfortable and relaxed … WTF.”
“Bro was not exactly the GQ model in the first years. Honestly looks more cold at 48 than 35 years.” one other person wrote.
However, not everyone appreciated the brand new hairstyle and a relaxed look.
Someone else Tweet“What’s up with this guy … He on a hippie journey? Will he start wandering in the desert?”
Other he said, “Bro looks like he was disappearing at sea.”
One fan compared him to Lord Corlys “The Sea Snake” Velaryon from “Dom Dragon”.
Leroy Tekken
– Infina (@infinitesunami) March 31, 2025
After collecting $ 245 million of profession earnings and strengthening his heritage as one in all the biggest basketball strikers, Duncan clearly decided that retirement is a really perfect time to simply accept a totally recent aesthetics.
This is just not the one change that the 48-year-old basketball icon has adopted of their life after the NBA. Now he practices mixed martial arts.
“When he entered the door, I saw that he was very hungry for learning martial arts, and his movement, his absorption of martial arts was simply phenomenal” revealed Jason Echols to the Bleacher report.
Echols is a coach of MMA Duncana, who has been training the basketball legend in Echols Fitness in San Antonio for over a decade.
Duncan’s physical transformation coincides with significant changes in his personal life over the past decade.
His personal life has also evolved. After his divorce with his beloved from College, Amy Sherrill, with whom he shares two children, Duncan found love for Amazing Race Alum Macias. Together for over a decade, the couple divides his daughter, Quill – named after Peter Quilla Marvel (Guardians of the Galaxy), Sporting News Reports.
Macias announced the birth of his daughter in March 2017, calling her a “small soul changer”.
Thank you for love and thoughts welcoming our little change of soul, Quill.
– Vanessa Macias (@vanessalmacias) March 27, 2017
It seems that Macias has an amicable relationship with other children from his marriage, since the whole family was present in 2016, when the NBA star shirt was retired by his team.
Despite leaving the sport, Duncan stays connected to Spurs. His short time as an assistant to the trainer in 2019-2020 was one in all the few times when he returned to the focus.
While his appearance has modified, his loyalty to Spurs didn’t. He still supports his former team, proving that he continues to be an impulse to live – only many more hair.
(Tagstransate) Tim Duncan
Atlanta – when he began to climb the ladder on his turn to cut the network, Auburn Center Dylan Cardwell suddenly stopped.
By examining the Orange Sea at State Farm Arena, Cardwell raised his right hand in the air and led the spontaneous crowd to the school’s battle school:
Cardwell ended the singing with a shout before the resumption of climbing, demanding a fraction of nylon on the occasion of the second journey of Auburn to the Final Four in the history of the program with a Sunday victory 70-64 in Michigan in the state of Michigan in the southern regional final, which, despite playing in Atlanta, felt like a game at Auburn’s house.
“Super game, this is Auburn-Atlanta,” said Cardwell later with a crowd of Pro-Auburn, which had a small problem to make two hours to Atlanta. “I can’t imagine how difficult it is to play in this environment. It was great.”
MVP Auburna Regional was Johni Broome, who shook nasty autumn in the middle of the second half, scoring 25 points and win 14 rebounds to win the Top Player award.
The rising regional star was Tahaad PettiFord, the first yr guard who was the only other Auburn player in double forms (10). Despite the descent from the bench in all matches this season, PettiFord represents the way forward for the team (if he decides to stay in college, which might be difficult to scout NBA will definitely drool due to his athleticism and confidence).
But when the tigers are preparing to travel to San Antonio next weekend for the last 4 with 4 seeds No. 1 for the second time in history, Cardwell – the best player in Auburn basketball history – can simply represent the heart and soul of the team.
“Dylan Cardwell blows everyone who is there,” said coach Auburn Bruce Pearl about August, Georgia, from plus/minus the team for 3 easy matches before the Sunday regional final. “You can’t look at the statistics sheet and think that he will lead in Plus-Minus and does it all the time.”
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
A fast take a look at Cardwell’s statistics from Sunday is not going to blow you up: he had five points, six rebounds and made only considered one of 4 attempts at free kicks (after the only brand, Cardwell pushed each fingers into the air and shouted “thank you”). But Cardwell played a key role in maintaining Auburn’s defense when Broome had to leave the game with 10:37 after a tough landing on the right elbow.
“When Johni left, I immediately thought about Chaney (Johnson) and Dylan and none of them got into bad trouble,” said Pearl. “Chaney and Dylan can of course do what should be done in a defensive end and reflection. When Johnni left, we hung there and hindered the capture of Michigan.”
Auburn led 50-40 when Broome left the game. When Cardwell and Chaney hold the interior, there have been 10 points when Broome returned from the cloakroom and immediately checked in in the game.
“CHaney and Dylan can of course do what should be done on defensive and reflection,” said Pearl. “When Johni left, we hung there. We made it difficult to Michigan.”
Cardwell played his role as considered one of the principal defensive elements for tigers, which is barely suitable for a man who got here to Auburn in 2020, a yr after the team’s last journey to the final 4. While Cardwell was a rotation guy from the 1st day, he began only two matches before this season – his fifth in Auburn.
Modest medium Cardwell careers (4.2 points and three.8 rebounds per match inside five seasons) Do not likely tell the stories of considered one of the most influential players in the team that remained near the summit of national rankings throughout the season.
“The boards dominate, he is the best defender on the floor and does not overturn basketball,” said Pearl about Cardwell. “So he can’t shoot at a jump, but intends to hand over the ball to some guys who can shoot.”
And Cardwell plays with the level of intensity and swagger, who denies the indisputable fact that he’s a person who’s wealthy who’s on the dean’s list and 3 times made Academic Honor Scena.
Grant Halverson/NCAA photos via ghetto images
Pearl Cardwell Cardwell for sticking to the program, saying that the introduction of Walker Kessler transfers (from North Carolina in 2021) and Broome (from the state of Morehead in 2022) were movements that refused Kardwell to start.
“We brought him at the end of the season and said:” Look, if Johni returns, two things must occur, “said Pearl. “Or you have got to leave because he just isn’t fair to play after him again, you deserve more. Or I’ll start two in each game should you stay.” “
Cardwell award for stay: Journey to the final 4.
It was only right that when the team left the State Farm Arena Court after cutting out the network, Cardwell took the regional championship trophy to the cloakroom.
“In Auburn, 2019 is a year that everyone is talking about,” said Cardwell in the victorious cloakroom, squeezing this trophy. “They are the basis of this program. I am glad that now my name can now be included in the history of Auburn.”
With fewer teams, games and fans in the town, there is much less chaos in NCAA tournament.
The city organizes women’s tournament games within the Spokane Arena. The best general UCLA grain and its 6-meter ALL-America Lauren Betts center belonged to eight teams in the town.
Located in Eastern Washington, about 100 miles south of the border from Canada, it is dug a medium -sized city, which is a bit unique since it is a frequent March host of madness. The men’s tournament included games in Spokane six times since 2003. The tournament for ladies had matches in the world 4 times and seven times throughout the town.
“Spokane has a long history of the organization of the championship,” said Ashley Blake, general director of Spokane Sports, a regional sports committee. “Spokane is a city that appears in sport. And this tournament is not really an exception. So having this reputation and experience in our city is really a catalyst for which these tournaments choose Spokane.”
But it didn’t all the time go easily. This area drew unwanted attention last 12 months, when the proper storm of sporting events took place, which at the identical time got here right down to the town. There were matches of the Men’s and Youth Volleyball Tournament with over 700 young players.
In addition, Gonzagi women also provided a spot within the tournament. And as the best grain, Zags received early rounds as a number, playing on the McCarthey Athletic Center-Z school, only just a few days.
For all these teams, athletes and fans in the town at the identical time there was an absence of appropriate hotel rooms. NCAA rules dictate team hotels must meet minimal standards and have appropriate amenities.
As a result, some women’s teams were in hotels abroad in Idaho, over half-hour of driving from the Spokane center, and this area turned out to be an inflammatory point for controversy.
Players for the Utah women’s team went to team dinner at Coeur d’Alene in Idaho, when the motive force of the van flying the confederation flag The racist language shouted on them. Utes was moved from the hotel the following day.
“We had several cases of racial crimes from hatred for our program and (it was) extremely annoying to us all,” said the coach of women-Tututa, Lynne Roberts. Roberts is now the coach of La Sparks of WNBA. “In our world, in athletics and in university institutions, it is shocking. There is so much diversity in the university campus, so you are simply not exposed to it.”
Idaho authorities revealed after a two-month investigation that an 18-year-old man confessed to the use of a racial insult, but lawyer Coeur D ‘Alene City he refused to complain about hate crimes.
This 12 months is very different. Without tournament games planned by men, this problem is largely debatable. But the sports committee said that it learned about higher ways of dealing with crowding in the longer term. The next one is certain to prepare men’s games in 2027.
“I think that the biggest thing is to recognize what happened. This is a reminder of this responsibility that we all share, and making sure that athletes feel supported, respected and safe when they come here to compete,” Blake said.
Paige Bueckers, the Connecticut star, was delighted with the sale of the gang, which expected Sweet 16 a match with Oklahom on Saturday.
Buckkers also took part in the highschool within the USA Basketball in Spokane, who won the nickname Hooptown for a lot of NCAA tournament matches, each Gonzaga teams and the annual summer tournament 3 to three.
“It means everything for us to be able to travel around the country and get support,” she said. “This is a great basketball community. They love basketball here, love women’s basketball, so it will be exciting.”
In combination with this 12 months’s tournaments, the town has began the “Spokane Champions Women in Sports” campaign and organizes several events that help “make sure that our bands, fans and our media when they come here, see and feel the support of our community.”
And this doesn’t end with March Madness.
“Immediately after this tournament, we fall into the citizens of the US women Wrestling, which will have about 2,000 athletes, their viewers and their families who will come,” said Blake. “That’s why we really use this platform to start and start telling a story, which means sports tourism for Spokane, as well as on the side of women.”
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