The part-time stars of Team USA’s 3×3 men’s basketball team have their eyes fixed on gold as the sport readies for its Olympic debut
When he finally decided to retire from basketball at 28 years old, Robbie Hummel left behind a career largely defined by what might have been.
The former Purdue University star had once been among college basketball’s most promising talents, making it to the NBA even after his time at the Indiana school was derailed by two anterior cruciate ligament tears. Fueled by a lifelong passion forged in Hoosier State’s frenzied high-school basketball scene, Hummel swerved one injury setback after another through two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves and one each in Spain, Italy and Russia. But after a brief, miserable stint with Moscow club BC Khimki, where he suffered a badly broken nose and a concussion, he’d found the joy he once took in showing up to practice each day was running dry.
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