Basketball at the Summer Olympics

History

Basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. Within a few decades, the new game became popular throughout the United States as an indoor sport. The popularity spread overseas and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) was organized in 1932 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) had a big part in the spread of this sport to many countries, and as many as 21 teams competed in the first Olympic basketball tournament.{{cite news

American dominance

Thanks in part to the effort of Phog Allen—a Kansas Jayhawks collegiate coach—the first Olympic basketball tournament was organized in the 1936 Berlin Olympics on outdoor tennis courts. Dr. Naismith presented the medals to the top three teams. According to the Olympic rules of that time, all of the competitors were amateurs. The tournament was held indoors for the first time in 1948. The American team proved its dominance, winning the first seven Olympic tournaments through 1968, without losing a single game. While the Americans were barred from sending a team that contained players from the professional National Basketball Association, they instead sent in college players; teams from some other countries sent in their best players, as some of their players were classified as "amateur" by FIBA, by earning allowances instead of wages.

Munich and after

The U.S. winning streak ended in 1972, when the Soviet Union controversially won the gold medal game against the United States by one point.

The U.S. team reclaimed the gold medal in 1976, with Yugoslavia, which had beaten the Soviet Union in the semifinal, finishing runner-up for the second time. In 1980, with the Americans' absence due to the boycott, Yugoslavia became the third team to win the title, after beating the Soviets anew in the semifinals and Italy in the final. The Americans regained the title in 1984, by beating Spain in the final, with the Soviets boycotting this time. The Soviets won the gold medal for the second time in 1988, after beating the U.S. team for the second time in the semifinal, and the Yugoslavs in the gold medal game.

Professional era: renewed American dominance

The advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of the Eastern Bloc countries eroded the ideology of the pure amateur, as it put the self-financed amateurs of the Western countries at a disadvantage. The Soviet Union entered teams of athletes who were all nominally listed in the military, but all of whom were in fact paid by the state to train full-time. In April 1989, through the leadership of Secretary General Borislav Stanković, FIBA approved the rule that allowed NBA players to compete in international tournaments, including the Olympics. In the 1992 Summer Olympics, the U.S. "Dream Team" won the gold medal with an average winning margin of 44 points per game, and without calling a timeout. By this time, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia no longer existed, but their successor states continued to be among the leading forces. Two newly independent countries of the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Union, Croatia and Lithuania, won the silver and bronze medals respectively.

The American team repeated its victory in 1996 and 2000, but its performance was not as dominant as in 1992. Since active NBA players have been allowed to compete in the Summer Olympics, the 1996 Games in Atlanta is the only instance where the Olympic host city also had a home NBA team — the Hawks. Yugoslavia was the runner-up in Atlanta, and France in Sydney, with Lithuania winning bronze again on both occasions.

The renewed dominance of the U.S. was interrupted in 2004, when the Americans barely made it to the semifinal, after losing to Puerto Rico and Lithuania in the preliminaries; Argentina defeated them in the semifinals, on their way to a gold medal finish, where they beat Italy in the final, and became the fourth team to win the Olympic title.

The Americans regrouped in 2008, beating the reigning FIBA world champions, Spain, in an intense gold medal game, with the Argentines beating the Lithuanians in the bronze medal game. The Americans and the Spaniards met again in the 2012 gold medal game, with the U.S. again winning, although with the closest winning margin for the American team. The U.S. won again in 2016, defeating the Serbians in the gold medal game, a rematch of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Final, after eliminating the Spaniards, who settled for bronze. The American team defended their title by winning again at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, extending their run to four consecutive gold medal finishes, and seven out of the last eight.

Women

The first women's tournament was staged in the 1976 Summer Olympics. The Soviet Union won five straight games, becoming the inaugural champion. The next two tournaments followed the six-team round-robin format, with the Soviets defending their title in 1980 amid the U.S.-led boycott, and the U.S. winning in 1984, against the South Koreans, amid the Soviet-led boycott. In 1988, the tournament expanded into eight teams, with the Americans beating Yugoslavia in the gold medal game. In 1992, the Unified Team, consisting of the former Soviet republics, defeated China in the gold medal game. In 1996, the tournament settled into its current 12-team format; the U.S. has swept all of the tournaments since then, winning 61 consecutive games.

Venues

Main article: List of Olympic venues in basketball

All venues were indoor stadiums except for the 1936 tournament, which was held outdoors on lawn tennis courts.

• GER Berlin 1936: Reichssportfeld, Berlin
• GBR London 1948: Harringay Arena, London
• FIN Helsinki 1952: Tennis Palace and Messuhalli II, both in Helsinki
• AUS Melbourne 1956: Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
• ITA Rome 1960: Sports Arena and Sports Palace, Rome
• JPN Tokyo 1964: Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo
• MEX Mexico City 1968: Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
• FRG Munich 1972: Basketballhalle, Munich
• CAN Montreal 1976: Étienne Desmarteau Centre and the Montreal Forum, Montreal
• URS Moscow 1980: CSCA Sports Palace and Olimpiysky Stadium, Moscow
• USA Los Angeles 1984: The Forum, Inglewood
• KOR Seoul 1988: Jamsil Arena, Seoul
• ESP Barcelona 1992: Pavelló Olímpic de Badalona, Badalona
• USA Atlanta 1996: Forbes Arena and the Georgia Dome, Atlanta
• AUS Sydney 2000: The Dome and Sydney SuperDome, Parramatta
• GRC Athens 2004: Hellinikon Indoor Arena and the Olympic Indoor Hall, Elliniko and Marousi
• CHN Beijing 2008: Wukesong Indoor Stadium, Beijing
• GBR London 2012: Olympic Basketball Arena and The O2 Arena, London
• BRA Rio de Janeiro 2016: Carioca Arena 1 and the Youth Arena, Rio de Janeiro
• JPN Tokyo 2020: Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
• FRA Paris 2024: Accor Arena, Paris and Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d'Ascq
• USA Los Angeles 2028: Crypto.com Arena, the Los Angeles Convention Center, both in Los Angeles, and Intuit Dome, Inglewood
• AUS Brisbane 2032: Brisbane Indoor Sports Centre, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre, Kawana Waters

Qualifying

As of 2012, the qualifying process consists of three stages:

1. 1 team (for each gender) qualifies as the reigning world champion.
2. 7 teams for men and 5 for women qualify through their respective regional championships.
3. 3 teams for men and 5 for women qualify through a world qualifying tournament, in which the best teams which did not qualify directly from each zone compete for the remaining berths.

Additionally, the teams of the host nation qualify automatically.

In 2020, the men's tournament will have a new qualification system. After the 2019 FIBA World Cup, seven teams will qualify directly: the top two European and American teams, and the top team from Africa, Asia and Oceania. The next 16 best teams from the FIBA World Cup will join the two teams from each continent at the Olympic qualifiers. It will feature four groups of six teams, where the best team of each group will get the remaining spots at the Olympics. The continental championships will no longer be used for Olympic qualifying.

Men

Summaries

Medal table

Updated after the gold medal match of the 2024 Olympic tournament.

• The Soviet Union (as of 1992) and Yugoslavia (as of 2006) are defunct. No team carried over the records of these nations.
• Yugoslavia has been the designation from two distinct national entities: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1948 to 1988 formed as a joint state of 6 republics; Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1996 to 2006 formed as a joint state by only Montenegro and Serbia. In 2003, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed to Serbia and Montenegro, however both Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro represented the same national entity: a joint state of Serbia and Montenegro.

Performance by confederation

This is a summary of the best performances of each confederation in each tournament.

Participating nations

Notes

: The NOC was not member of the IOC. : As ROC China from 1936 to 1956. : Part of YUG Yugoslavia from 1936 to 1988. : Part of . : As FRG West Germany from 1968 to 1988. : Part of EUN in 1992. : Now SRB Serbia, part of in 1936–1988, as IOP in 1992 and part of in 1996–2000. : Part of in 2004. : Part of MAS Malaysia in 1964. : The Soviet Union chose not to compete in 1936 and 1948. : Part of TCH Czechoslovakia from 1920 to 1992.

Women

Summaries

Medal table

Source: FIBA{{Medals table

• Soviet Union (as of 1992) and Yugoslavia (as of 2006) are defunct. No team carried over the records of these nations.
• Yugoslavia has been the designation from two distinct national entities: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1948 to 1988 formed as a joint state of 6 republics; Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1996 to 2006 formed as a joint state by only Montenegro and Serbia.

Performance by confederation

This is a summary of the best performances of each confederation in each tournament.

Participating nations

Notes

: NOC was not member of IOC : competed as part of URS Soviet Union from 1952–88 : part of EUN in 1992 : part of TCH Czechoslovakia from 1920–92 : as ZAI Zaire from 1984–96 : part of "Yugoslavia" from 1976–2000 and "Serbia and Montenegro" in 2004

Overall medal table

• Soviet Union (as of 1992) and Yugoslavia (as of 2006) are defunct. No team carried over the records of these nations.
• Yugoslavia has been the designation from two distinct national entities: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1948 to 1988 formed as a joint state of 6 republics; Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1996 to 2006 formed as a joint state by only Montenegro and Serbia. In 2003, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed to Serbia and Montenegro, however both Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro represented the same national entity: a joint state of Montenegro and Serbia.

Win–loss records

Men's tournament

As of 10 August 2024

Women's tournament

updated at the end of the 2024 Olympics (11 August 2024)

Records

As of 4 August 2024

Top career scorers

The International Olympic Committee does not recognize records for basketball, although FIBA does.

Men

Women

Top scorer per tournament

Awards

Main article: FIBA Awards

References

References

1. "Presentation". FIBA.basketball.
2. (29 April 2021). "Tokyo 2020 event programme to see major boost for female participation, youth and urban appeal". International Olympic Committee.
3. (9 June 2017). "IOC adds 3-on-3 basketball to 2020 Olympics". National Basketball Association.
4. (20 August 2008). "Before They Were Giants".
5. "Basketball Hall of Fame – Phog Allen".
6. "Biggest Olympic scandals: The most controversial basketball game of all-time".
7. "10 Things You May Not Know About U.S. Basketball's Shocking 1972 Olympics Loss".
8. (15 April 1980). "How the Russians break the Olympic rules". The Christian Science Monitor.
9. (21 July 1974). "Soviet Amateur Athlete: A Real Pro". The New York Times.
10. "Why Can Pros Complete in International Events".
11. "Paris 2024 Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament Media Guide".
12. "Paris 2024 Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament Media Guide".
13. "Men's Olympics Career Leaders and Records for Points".