Why is the FIBA 3x3 Women's Series worth watching?
The U.S. team's rare victories in the Women's Series tournament are a great opportunity to learn more about the competition. It can be useful for streetball fans around the world, not just in the U.S.
But first of all - congratulations to Mikaylah Williams, Joyce Edwards, Milaysia Fulwiley and Sahara Williams on winning the first tournament of the 2026 FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series! They took Chengdu by storm, and for the first time ever USA has won back-to-back events. The same team didn’t lose a single game in Manila, one week later.
None of them was an easy win. In China both the final against Germany…
and the semifinal against our beloved Poland…
…could have ended differently. That’s the beauty of 3x3. We think that more than answers the question in the title, doesn’t it?
The final game in the Philippines was even more dramatic and ended in overtime:
Can we already call it dominance? Definitely not! In Chengdu, four of the U.S. team’s five games were decided by a single possession. In Manila, the American women played a total of seven games, winning all of them (excluding the final) by a wide margin. However, it is far too early to draw any long-term conclusions from this... But let’s start from the beginning.
What exactly is the Women’s Series?
The format was established in May 2019, to offer women a chance to play 3x3 at the highest level on a regular basis.
From the very beginning, FIBA 3x3 has emphasized gender equality. There are no less prestigious tournaments for women, the refereeing staff is evenly split between the two genders, and the pay gap is significantly smaller than in other basketball leagues, though it still exists.
For example, the prize money for winning a men’s World Tour event is typically $40,000 (for the entire team). The corresponding prize money for winning a Women’s Series event is $14,000.
Women’s Series tournaments are not different from World Tour ones: usually two-day events with a main draw of 12 teams and up to 2 qualification draws. They are played as a series of “stops” around the world and a WS Final. Here is the full 2026 schedule:
If you need more details about rules, format, and so on, the official Women’s Series 2026 Handbook is definitely a good starting point.
FIBA3x3 Women’s Series is becoming more and more popular. In the 2025 season, the average event had 2.4 million social media views (+14% compared to 2024), 273K+ engagements (+102%) and 5.8 million reach (+132%). Didn’t we say that 3x3 basketball is the fastest-growing sport in the world?
Historically
So far, the winners were decided mainly between European and Canadian teams. To say that the U.S. team wasn’t among the top contenders is an understatement. History shows that Canada and France are by far the best teams to have competed in the series:
You’re probably wondering what this means for major 3x3 events, such as the upcoming 2026 World Cup?
Women’s Series vs World Cup
And here’s where we’ll surprise you—it doesn’t really mean much. If you compare the table of Women’s Series winners above with the list of Women’s World Cup winners below, there is virtually no correlation.
Why is that the case—or rather, why was that the case? One reason was certainly the lack of U.S. involvement in the Women’s Series. The American women simply fielded their best lineup for the season’s most important tournaments—the World Championships or the Olympics and... they usually made it to the podium.
This year, however, the correlation may appear. The U.S. has seriously kicked off the Women’s Series, likely viewing it as a great opportunity to prepare for the season’s most important event—the World Cup in Warsaw (just three weeks away!).
Time will tell. For now, though, it’s clear who the top favorite is for the World Cup, at least in the women’s division. Which of you is going to Poland to watch the season’s biggest tournament live?
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