After brief stint in NBA, Robbie Hummel has shot at Olympic gold

Jeff Zillgitt | USA TODAY

Robbie Hummel never considered the possibility of winning an Olympic medal.

His NBA career totaled 98 games over two seasons followed by unfulfilling pro stints in Italy, Spain and Russia.

“Barring an epic blowup as a pro, I assumed that would be the last time ever getting to play for USA Basketball,” Hummel said of his participation in the World University Games in 2009.

His pro career came to an end in 2017.

“If I wasn’t going to be in the NBA anymore, I didn’t care to play," he told USA TODAY Sports. "I was resigned to the fact that I would play on Monday and Wednesday nights at the Hamlin Park pickup run in Chicago. I was ready to just do that two times a week and play a bunch of golf and do TV stuff. I never thought I would be in position to play in the Olympics.”

Then, 3-on-3 became an Olympic sport.

Hummel, 30, gave it a try when a friend asked him to participate in a tournament in Seoul, South Korea. Turns out, he is good at 3-on-3. He kept playing, and in the summer, Hummel helped his USA Basketball team win the 3-on-3 World Cup in the Netherlands, where he earned tournament MVP.

Last week, USA Basketball named Hummel its 2019 male athlete of the year.

And now, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are a real possibility for Hummel, who played at Purdue and also is a college basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network.

The U.S. still has to qualify for the Olympics and will participate in the qualifying tournament March 18-22 in India.

“It’s certainly not set in stone but I feel good about my, our chances going forward as a country,” Hummel said.

There is a qualification system for players, too, based on points accumulated in previous 3-on-3 events. Each team must have two players ranked in the top 10 in their nation and the remaining two must be ranked in the top 100.

Hummel is not guaranteed an Olympic spot if the U.S. qualifies, but he’s in good position as the third-ranked U.S. player, according to FIBA, and coming off a successful World Cup.

Hummel’s pro career was winding down in 2017. He didn’t have much interest in playing another season in Europe though he had offers in Israel, Spain and Turkey.

He confided to a friend: "I hate every day. I go to practice, my effort sucks. I don’t recognize myself. I was never somebody who would do that. I’m literally a different person over here. I don’t want to do this anymore,” Hummel said.

“I wanted to play in the NBA. I had done that. It wasn’t as long as I had hoped or thought it was going to be. I was completely at peace saying that was fine. I made it. It’s a good accomplishment (playing in the NBA) regardless."

He embarked on his TV career, joining BTN, playing golf and pickup ball. Then a friend, Craig Moore, who played at Northwestern, called and said his 3-on-3 team needed another player. Hummel was suspect.

“I told Craig, ‘You’re telling me we’re going to fly 13 hours to Seoul, play a max of five 10-minute games – so a maximum of 50 minutes of basketball – and if we win, we keep the money and everything’s paid for?' He’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s what’s going to happen.’ I’m like, ‘I really don’t get that, but alright.’

"I also didn’t get how the budget for my Russian team was $28 million, and we’d have 200 people at our game. That didn’t make a lot of sense either. You just ride the wave.”

Hummel’s 3-on-3 team also won the national championship this year and gained momentum with the World Cup, which included victories over powerhouses Serbia, Latvia and Slovenia.

“It’s a weird sport. The rules are funky. The strategy is funky,” Hummel said.

The game is played on a halfcourt with 10-minute games or first team to 21. Made shots inside the 3-point line are worth one point; shots made outside the 3-point line count as two points. The shot clock is 12 seconds.

"If I’m guarding you and you drive to the basket for a layup,” Hummel said, “if I feel like I have no chance to get back into the play, instead of having late contest on the layup, I would rather sprint to the 3-point line and have one of my teammates swoop in and get the ball out of the out the net and swing to me for a 3-pointer. There’s weird things like that."

Hummel enjoys the weirdness, the nuances, and of course, the chance to medal at the Olympics.

"It went from ‘I’ll give it a try’ to ‘I’m fully invested,’ ” he said. “And now, it’s like, 'Let’s make the Olympic Games and do something pretty cool.' "