Basketball at the 1988 Summer Olympics was the twelfth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at the Jamsil Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea from 17 September to 30 September 1988. The United States won the gold medal in the women's competition, repeating their performance from the 1984 tournament. In the men's tournament, the Soviet Union took home their second gold medal in the team's history for this event. In the team, Baltic basketballers were overrepresented: Sabonis, Chomičius, Kurtinaitis and Marčiulionis were Lithuanian, Miglinieks was Latvian, and Tiit Sokk was Estonian. In addition, Aleksandr Volkov and Aleksandr Belostennyi were Ukrainian.
Brazil competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. 160 competitors, 127 men and 33 women, took part in 106 events in 21 sports. Brazilians conquered 6 medals in Seoul, but only one gold medal.
Basketball contests at the 1964 Summer Olympics was the sixth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan from October 11 to October 23. The United States defeated the Soviet Union to win their sixth consecutive gold medal at this event, while Brazil earned the bronze against Puerto Rico.
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 a demonstration event in 1904. 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.
Bulgaria competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Bulgaria ranked 5th overall by medal count with 35 medals won. 171 competitors, 104 men and 67 women, took part in 120 events in 16 sports. The nation returned to the Olympic Games after boycotting the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Djibouti took part in the 1996 Summer Olympics, which were held in Atlanta, United States from 19 July to 4 August. The country's participation marked its fourth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, United States. The delegation from Djibouti included five athletes, three in athletics and two in sailing. The three athletes for athletics were Ali Ibrahim, Omar Moussa, and Hussein Ahmed Salah while Robleh Ali Adou and Mohamed Youssef represented the country for sailing.
Djibouti took part in the 1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain from 25 July to 9 August. The country's participation marked its fourth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, United States. The delegation from Djibouti included eight athletes, five in athletics, two in judo and one in sailing. Houssein Djama, Moussa Souleiman, Omar Daher Gadid, Ahmed Salah, and Talal Omar Abdillahi represented the nation in athletics, while Youssef Omar Isahak, Alaoui Mohamed Taher represented the nation in judo. Robleh Ali Adou represented Djibouti in sailing.
Djibouti took part in the 1988 Summer Olympics which were held in Seoul, South Korea from September 17 to October 2. The country's participation marked its second appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1984 Summer games in Los Angeles, United States. The delegation from Djibouti included six athletes, five in athletics and one in sailing. The five athletes for athletics were Hoche Yaya Aden, Ismael Hassan, Talal Omar Abdillahi, Hussein Ahmed Salah, and Omar Moussa while Robleh Ali Adou represented the nation in sailing. Ahmed Salah won the nation's first Olympic medal, which is a bronze at the Men's Marathon event.
Libya competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The country's participation in Sydney marked its sixth appearance at a Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1964 Games. The delegation included three male athletes; marathon runner Adel Edeli, judoka Tarek Ayad and Nizar Mohamed Naeeli in taekwondo. Edeli did not finish his race, while Ayad and Naeeli were both eliminated in the first bouts of their respective tournaments.
Athletes from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. This was the last time that the SFR Yugoslavia competed in the Summer Olympics. 155 competitors, 117 men and 38 women, took part in 72 events in 18 sports.
The Republic of Upper Volta competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. This was the first and only time the country participated under that name at the Olympic Games. However, the first Upper Voltan athletes took part in the Olympics at the 1924 Games as part of the French contingent. André Bicaba was the only athlete representing Upper Volta in 1972, who participated in the men's 100 metres but did not progress past his heat. Upper Volta initially sought to send athletes to the 1976 Summer Olympics, but boycotted it with other Africa nations. By the time it returned to the Games in 1988, the nation was known as Burkina Faso.
The Central African Republic competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. It had been 16 years since the previous appearance of the nation at the Summer Olympics, when it made its debut at the 1968 Games in Mexico City, Mexico. The Central African Republic was represented by three athletes; marathon runner Adolphe Ambowodé and two boxers, Dieudonné Kossi and Antoine Longoudé. There were no medals won by the trio.
The Gambia has sent athletes to every Summer Olympic Games held since 1984, although the country has never won an Olympic medal. The Gambia is yet to compete at the Winter Olympic Games.
Djibouti has participated in nine Summer Olympic Games as of the completion of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. They have never competed in the Winter Olympic Games. Djibouti debuted at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States of America with three athletes, but did not take home a medal. The highest number of Djiboutian athletes participating in a summer Games is eight in the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain. Only one Djiboutian athlete has ever won a medal at the Olympics, marathon runner Hussein Ahmed Salah, who won a bronze medal in the 1988 marathon.
Somalia first participated at the Olympic Games at the 1972 Summer Games in Munich, West Germany; the Somali Olympic Committee being recognised by the International Olympic Committee shortly prior. The nation has sent athletes to compete in most Summer Olympic Games since then, boycotting in 1976 due to the inclusion of New Zealand, and in 1980 when it joined with the American-led boycott. It also did not compete in 1992 due to the ongoing effects of a famine. Somalia entered their largest contingent of athletes at the 1984 Summer Olympics, a total of seven.
The 1988 United States men's Olympic basketball team represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The team's head coach was John Thompson, of Georgetown University. Team USA won the tournament's bronze medal, their lowest finish to that point in any Olympic basketball tournament.
Senegal competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from August 5 to 21, 2016. It was the nation's fourteenth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1964.
Swaziland competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. The country's participation in Rio de Janeiro marked its tenth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1972. The delegation included two track and field athletes: Sibusiso Matsenjwa in the men's 200 metres and Phumlile Ndzinisa in the women's 100 metres. Both athletes participated at the Games through wildcard places since they did not meet the required standards to qualify. Neither athletes progressed past their heats, although Matsenjwa set a new national record.
Twelve men's teams competed in basketball at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
The men's tournament in basketball at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul began on 17 September and ended on 30 September.
