"They finna go win"- Snoop Dogg impressed with USA Women's 3x3 Basketball team ft. Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard
Snoop Dogg will be one of the torchbearers in this year’s Paris Olympic Games. Along with that duty, the famous rapper is there to support Team USA athletes competing for gold medals in over 32 different sports.
As part of his support to American athletes, Snoop Dogg visited the USA Women’s 3x3 basketball team and was impressed by their abilities. He expressed his confidence in them in a video posted by the team on X, formerly known as Twitter:
"Checking in from the 3-on-3 from Paris, France. I’m with the Men’s and the Women’s team, and I’m telling you, the women’s, they look like they finna go win."
Team USA won the inaugural women’s 3x3 basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, beating Russia for the gold medal. This year, the team will be fielding Los Angeles Sparks’ Dearica Hamby, Atlanta Dream’s Rhyne Howard, former WNBA player Cierra Burdick and TCU’s Hailey Van Lith. Sparks’ rookie Cameron Brink would have been in the 3x3 lineup until her torn ACL injury sidelined her for the rest of the year.
The American rapper also joined the team’s practices, shooting a Granny shot made famous by NBA legend Rick Barry. He hit the shot in front of the media and other 3x3 players on the practice court:
USA Women’s 3x3 Basketball Team Preview
As the defending Olympic champion, the Team USA Women’s 3-on-3 Basketball team enters this year’s Paris Games as the favorites to win it all again. The national team will lean on their quartet with experience in the 3x3 scene.
Rhyne Howard is projected to be the team’s top player, averaging 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists for the Atlanta Dream in the ongoing WNBA season. Howard, a former 2022 top overall pick, is six-foot-two and plays like a Swiss army knife on both ends of the floor.
Dearica Hamby is also expected to carry most of the load for Team USA. She is averaging 19.4 points and 10 rebounds per game this season for the Sparks, filling up the spot left by Brink in the Olympic lineup. Meanwhile, Cierra Burdick adds a veteran presence to the team, having played 3-on-3 basketball for over five years, and Hailey Van Lith is expected to inject some youthful energy into the squad.
Team USA’s top challengers are expected to be Canada, France and China in the Olympic games starting next week.