James Naismith was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote the original basketball rule book and founded the University of Kansas basketball program. Naismith lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and as an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, as well as the birth of the National Invitation Tournament (1938) and the NCAA Tournament (1939).
The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. It is the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in all nineteen Olympic tournaments it has entered, including sixteen golds. In the professional era, the team won the Olympic gold medal in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020. Two of its gold medal-winning teams were inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2010: the 1960 team, which featured six Hall of Famers, and the 1992 "Dream Team", featuring 14 Hall of Famers. The team is currently ranked first in the FIBA World Rankings.
Basketball events at the 1976 Summer Olympics was the ninth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place from July 18 to July 27 at the Centre Étienne Desmarteau and the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Women's basketball was introduced to the Olympic program for the first time at this Games. The United States won the gold against Yugoslavia in the men's tournament, while the Soviet Union won the gold medal against the United States in the women's competition.
Dawn Michelle Staley is an American basketball Hall of Fame player and coach who is currently the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks. Staley won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA as a player and later was head coach of another U.S. gold-medal winning team. Staley was elected to carry the United States flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics. After playing point guard for the University of Virginia under Debbie Ryan, and winning the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, she went on to play professionally in the American Basketball League and the WNBA. In 2011, fans named Staley one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. Staley was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team represented the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1943 until 1992 in international basketball, and was controlled by the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia.
Sue Gunter was an American women's college basketball coach. She is best known as the head coach of the Louisiana State University (LSU) Lady Tigers basketball team. Gunter was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.
Lindsay John Casson Gaze is an Australian former basketball player and coach.
Cheryl D. Miller is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked previously as a sportscaster for ABC Sports, TBS Sports, and ESPN. She was also head coach and general manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.
Ann Meyers Drysdale is an American retired pro basketball player and a sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and at professional levels.
Hortência Maria de Fátima Marcari is a former basketball player who is often considered to be one of the greatest female basketball players in Brazil, along with Paula, and regarded by specialists as one of the world's greatest female basketball players of all time. Marcari is a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and FIBA Hall of Fame. She is known in her country as Hortência, and her nickname is The Queen.
Alexander Yakovlevich Gomelsky was a Russian professional basketball player and coach. The Father of Soviet and Russian basketball, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.
Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, basketball was held as an unofficial demonstration event in 1904 and 1924. Women's basketball made its debut in the Summer Olympics in 1976. FIBA organizes both the men's and women's FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments and the Summer Olympics basketball tournaments, which are sanctioned by the IOC.
Sergei Alexandrovich Belov was a Russian professional basketball player, most noted for playing for CSKA Moscow and the senior Soviet Union national basketball team. He is considered to be one of the best European basketball players of all time, and was given the honour of lighting the Olympic Cauldron with the Olympic flame during the 1980 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, in Moscow.
The Australia women's national basketball team, nicknamed the Opals after the brightly coloured gemstone common to the country, represents Australia in international basketball. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive and successful having won nine medals at official FIBA international tournaments, highlighted by a gold medal winning performance at the 2006 World Championship in Brazil. At the now-defunct regional Oceania Championship for Women, the Opals won 15 titles. In 2017, FIBA combined its Oceanian and Asian zones for official senior competitions; following this change, the Opals compete in the FIBA Women's Asia Cup.
Lusia Mae Harris was an American professional basketball player. Harris is considered to be one of the pioneers of women's basketball. She played for Delta State University and won three consecutive Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championships, the predecessors to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, from 1975 to 1977. In international level, she represented the United States' national team and won the silver medal in the 1976 Olympic Games, the first women's basketball tournament in the Olympic Games. She played professional basketball with the Houston Angels of the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) and was the first and only woman ever officially drafted by the National Basketball Association (NBA). For her achievements, Harris was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Billie Jean Moore was an American college basketball coach. She was the first head coach in women's college basketball history to lead two different schools to national championships. Moore coached the California State-Fullerton Titans from 1969 to 1977, winning the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW) national title in her first year in 1970. She led the UCLA Bruins from 1977 to 1993 and won the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national title in 1978. Her overall college coaching record was 436–196. Moore was the head coach of the first United States women's national basketball team to compete in the Olympics. In 1999 she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Lidiya Vladimirovna Alekseyeva was a Russian basketball player and coach. Alekseyeva was born in Moscow. Alekseyeva was inducted into the inaugural class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. She was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007. On 24 February 2012, Alekseyeva was announced as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2012; she was formally inducted on 7 September.
The 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome, Italy, representing the United States of America.
Juliene Brazinski Simpson is an American former basketball player who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics. Simpson and her 1976 USA Olympic women's basketball teammates were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.
