The first Masters that made us cry
The tears came first because of the terrible injury, and later out of emotion and pride for the entire 3x3 community.
The FIBA3x3 train goes from Japan to China now, but we have to stop for a moment here and reflect on what actually happened during Utsonomiya World Tour 2026 Opener.
A story that will make the entire 3x3 basketball family stronger
Moments like these remain in the community’s collective memory forever. Let’s make sure this one has been properly documented.
Leon Fertig’s injury
The sight of a young athlete screaming in pain in the middle of the field, with his leg twisted at an unnatural angle, is an terrifying image. We intentionally do not put the screenshot here. You can easily find this fragment on YouTube, but believe us, you don’t want to do it.
IT WAS DEVASTATING, obviously for Leon himself, his teammates and the spectators, both on-site and on-line. Players from both teams (Raundondvaris and Skyliners) had to complete the last minute of the game with tears in their eyes. Clearly nobody cared about the final result at this moment.
Leon’s teammates won and advanced to semifinal.
But that was just a rough start to a very positive story!
The three remaining Skyliners players took the court to play in the semifinal game against Antwerp. And to win it for their teammate. Leon’s jersey was hanging on the bench. Stefan Kojic, Kevin Bryant, and Niklas Kropp were determined to win it for their friend, sending a message of encouragement through the screen:
And they won!
But that’s only part of the story. The flood of support and love that has poured in for Leon was incredible. The entire community - from the official FIBA3x3 channels to players from other teams, commentators, and fans - did exactly what they should have done at that moment, in the best possible way. If even a small part of this support has reached Leon, he’ll be back in top form in no time.
In the final, the trio from Frankfurt was slightly weaker than the quartet from Liman. Congrats to both teams, it wa s great game!
But that’s not the end of this story. This is how it will actually finish, which is sure to happen: in a few months, Leon Fertig will be playing streetball at the highest level again!
Stay strong, young man, and don’t lose faith for a second. See you on the court soon! <3
Other observations from Japan
We’ve already talked about the sport (Liman showed his strength!) and moral winners – let’s focus a bit on the other, less obvious heroes of the tournament.
Slim Reaper
James Parrott is the most physically gifted player who ever played 3x3. His talent is off the charts - long arms, speed, jumping, soft touch - its a poetry to see him on the court when he is in the flow. Period.
No Pukelis = no Raudondvaris
Talking about gifted ones - size matters - and the one of the biggest 3x3 players, Aurelijus Pukelis wasn’t present in Japan this weekend. The result: only 11 points in their first game against Liman (lost) , 15 against Taipei (won) and 14 against Skyliners (see above). Lithuanians ofense simply doesn’t work without him being a threat both inside and outside (he can shot twos!).
LSD - Lefthanded Super Duo - Lasmanis & Forte
They took Shanghai to quarterfinal scoring 26 out of 37 team total points in the pool phase and their connection and communication on the floor from time to time reminded us Stockton & Malone (yes, one of us is so old).
Playmaker Stefan Kojic
Kojic had 7 assist (and only 2 turnovers) in first two group games, both won by Frankfurt Skyliners. Most people recognise him as a very good shooter, especially in the clutch (later on he started to score, too), but this time he showed the full package:
That’s all for now, it was very emotional weekend. Let’s have a short break before Chengdu Masters.
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