AMSTERDAM (Netherlands) - August 5, 2024. It's a date forever etched in Dutch sports lore.
On a muggy night at the historic La Concorde in the heartbeat of Paris, superstar Worthy de Jong hit an incredible step back two-pointer to silence the partisan crowd and lift the Netherlands to an epic OT victory over France in an unforgettable gold medal game.
The men in orange had achieved the greatest moment in the small European country's hoops history and the four Dutchmen became instant legends for their sports mad compatriots.
The epic journey of the Netherlands has been captured in a FIBA 3x3 documentary titled Silver is good, gold is better that will be released on YouTube. It's a riveting behind the scenes exploration of the blood, sweat and tears of these Olympic heroes in what is ultimately an inspiring tale of redemption, brotherhood and belief.
It isn't merely about their Paris Olympic campaign, but traces the 3x3 origins of the four gold medalists - de Jong, Arvin Slagter, Jan Driessen and Dimeo van der Horst. They were first inspired by Amsterdam hosting the Europe Cup 2017 and World Cup 2019 as the Netherlands were an early pioneer of the half-court game.
Slagter and van der Horst were part of the Netherlands' unsuccessful Tokyo Olympics campaign, where they did not reach the medal rounds. "Fuel to the fire to get it the next time," van der Horst said.
As they prepared for the Paris Olympics, a big coup for Dutch 3x3 was luring de Jong, who was at the end of his legendary basketball career. He had rebuffed previous offers to play 3x3, but in 2022 - after falling out of love for basketball - he felt the time was right to pick up the Wilson.
"(3x3) brought back that feeling as a young kid falling in love with the sport," de Jong said.
There were growing pains with de Jong - affectionately known as 'Hype Worthy' due to his electric game - putting up huge numbers but sometimes at the expense of his marginalized teammates.
It then started to click as the pieces fell in place. Especially important was finding the right balance between scoring machines de Jong and van der Horst. It was van der Horst who changed his game, becoming an interior presence to let de Jong have more space on the perimeter, in a sacrifice that produced incredible results.
"It took a little while to build this chemistry," van der Horst said. "When we trusted each other, all four of us, we felt no one could stop us."
By the time they arrived in Paris, years of meticulous planning had come to fruition. It eventually came down to that nerve-jangling finale on August 5 with the gold medal in the balance.
De Jong had endured a cold-shooting game, but he had the backing of his teammates to underline the team's unity and complete trust of each other. "We knew we could get Worthy a good shot," Slagter said.
Their confidence was justified with de Jong hitting a shot that will be immortalized forever to trigger scenes of jubilation. "Just can't believe it happened," de Jong said.
De Jong and NBA legend Steph Curry's shots for the ages will always be the enduring memories of the basketball disciplines in Paris. The parallels are uncanny. Both crushed the hearts of host France and hit daggers from almost identical spots to cap fairy-tale Olympic debuts. And, almost eerily, de Jong and Curry share the exact same birthday - March 14, 1988.
"I'm not a spiritual guy, but I don't know if that's a coincidence," de Jong said.
FIBA