Basketball is a sport contested at the Summer Olympic Games. A men's basketball tournament was first held at the 1904 Olympics as a demonstration; it has been held at every Summer Olympics since 1936. In the 1972 Olympics, the final game between the United States and the Soviet Union was a controversial one, as the game's final three seconds were replayed three times by a FIBA (International Basketball Federation) official without the authority to do so, before the Soviet Union won their first gold medal, which would have been won by the United States if the game was not re-started against the rules. The U.S. filed a formal protest but was rejected by FIBA. As a result, the United States refused to accept the silver medal, and no player has ever claimed his medal. [1] After a protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. [2] The Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in response. [3] [4] Both boycotts affected basketball at the Olympics, as both had successful basketball teams at the time. Until 1992, the Olympics were restricted to "amateur" players. The advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of the Eastern Bloc countries further 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 students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but all of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full-time basis. [5] 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 next Olympics, the 1992 Summer Games, the "Dream Team" won the gold medal at the 1992 basketball tournament, with an average winning margin of 44 points per game, and without calling a single time out. 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.
American woman Diana Taurasi is the all-time leader for the most Olympic medals in basketball, with six gold, with three other women having won five medals—Americans Sue Bird (five gold) and Teresa Edwards (four gold and one bronze) plus Australia's Lauren Jackson (three silver and two bronze). Nine players have won four medals: Americans Lisa Leslie, Tamika Catchings, Sylvia Fowles (each with four golds with the women's team), Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James (each with three golds and one bronze with the men's team), and Kevin Durant (four gold medals); Soviet Gennadi Volnov (one gold, two silver, one bronze) and Sergei Belov (one gold, three bronze), and Australian Kristi Harrower (three silver, one bronze). Taurasi is the all-time leader for the most consecutive gold medal wins in basketball. Five other individuals, all American, have won three golds – Katie Smith, Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Seimone Augustus, and Breanna Stewart – and 23 other players, not including the previously mentioned, have won three medals. Two other American women, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, are the only players to have won medals of any color in both the full-court and 3x3 variants of the sport. Both won golds in the debut of 3x3 in 2020 and in the full-court game in 2024. [6] [7]
The United States is by far the most successful country in full-court Olympic basketball, with United States men's teams having won 17 of 20 tournaments in which they participated, including seven consecutive titles from 1936 through 1968. United States women's teams have won 10 titles out of the 12 tournaments in which they competed, including eight in a row from 1996 to 2024. Besides the United States, Argentina is the only nation still in existence that has won either the men's or women's tournament. The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and the Unified Team are the countries no longer in existence that have won the tournament. The United States is the defending champion of both the men's and women's tournaments. As of the 2016 Summer Olympics, 90 medals (30 of each color) have been awarded to teams from 20 National Olympic Committees.
Two gold medal-winning teams were inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. The 1960 U.S. Olympic team featured four players who would eventually enter the Hall of Fame as players, one of whom later entered the Hall as a contributor; a head coach who would enter the Hall as a contributor; and a team manager who entered the Hall as a coach. The 1992 U.S. Olympic team, better known as the "Dream Team", had 11 future Hall of Fame players, along with three coaches who were inducted to the Hall as coaches (one of whom was previously inducted separately for his accomplishments as a player). [8] [9]
On June 9, 2017, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee announced that 3x3 basketball would become an official Olympic sport as of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, for both men and women. [10] [11]
Individuals who have been inducted to the Naismith Hall of Fame (including announced members awaiting induction) are indicated as follows:
Individuals who have been inducted to the Naismith Hall of Fame (including announced members awaiting induction) are indicated as follows:
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Diana Taurasi | United States | 2004–2024 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
2 | Sue Bird | United States | 2004–2020 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
3 | Teresa Edwards | United States | 1984–2000 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
4 | Lauren Jackson | Australia | 2000–2024 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
5 | Lisa Leslie | United States | 1996–2008 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
5 | Tamika Catchings | United States | 2004–2016 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
5 | Sylvia Fowles | United States | 2008–2020 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
8 | Kristi Harrower | Australia | 2000–2012 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
9 | Sheryl Swoopes | United States | 1996–2004 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
9 | Dawn Staley | United States | 1996–2004 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
9 | Katie Smith | United States | 2000–2008 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
9 | Seimone Augustus | United States | 2008–2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
9 | Breanna Stewart | United States | 2016–2024 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
14 | Katrina McClain | United States | 1988–1996 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
15 | Suzy Batkovic | Australia | 2004–2012 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
15 | Sandy Brondello | Australia | 1996–2004 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
15 | Trisha Fallon | Australia | 1996–2004 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
15 | Rachael Sporn | Australia | 1996–2004 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
15 | Belinda Snell | Australia | 2004–2012 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
15 | Laura Summerton | Australia | 2004–2012 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Christian Donald Laettner is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) history. He was the star player on the back-to-back Duke National Championship teams of 1991 and 1992, and the NCAA player of the year in his senior year. He is particularly famous for his game-winning shot against Kentucky in the 1992 tournament and for the hatred he received from opposing fans.
Arvydas Romas Sabonis is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and businessman. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest European players of all time and one of the best big-man passers in the history of the game. Sabonis won the Euroscar six times and the Mr. Europa Award twice. He played in a variety of leagues, including the Spanish ACB League, and spent seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Playing the center position, Sabonis won a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics, in South Korea, for the Soviet Union, and later earned bronze medals at the 1992 Olympic Games and 1996 Olympic Games representing Lithuania. He retired from professional basketball in 2005. Sabonis was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 1986 NBA draft, but he did not play his first NBA game until 1995, at the age of 30.
Raimondas Šarūnas Marčiulionis ( ) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. Widely considered one of the greatest international players, he was one of the first Europeans to become a regular in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Marčiulionis was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014 and became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.
Teresa Edwards is an American former women's basketball player and four time Olympic gold medalist.
Teresa Gaye Weatherspoon is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played for the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and served as the head basketball coach of the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters. Weatherspoon was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. In 2016, Weatherspoon was chosen to the WNBA Top 20@20, a list of the league's best 20 players ever in celebration of the WNBA's twentieth anniversary.
Cynthia Lynne Cooper-Dyke is an American basketball coach and former player who has won championships in college, in the Olympics, and in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is considered by many as one of the greatest female basketball players ever. In 2011, Cooper-Dyke was voted by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. Upon the league's formation, she played for the Houston Comets from 1997 to 2000, being named the Most Valuable Player of the WNBA Finals in all four seasons, and returned to play again in 2003. Cooper-Dyke still holds the record for most Finals MVPs with four. On April 30, 2019, she was introduced as the head coach for the Texas Southern Lady Tigers basketball team, a position she held in the 2012–13 season. She has also coached at USC, UNC Wilmington, Prairie View A&M, and, professionally, for the Phoenix Mercury. Cooper-Dyke was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
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.
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.
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. 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.
Charlaine Vivian Stringer is an American former basketball coach. She holds one of the best coaching records in the history of women's basketball. She was the head coach of the Rutgers University women's basketball team from 1995 until her retirement in 2022.
Alexander Alexandrovich Belov, commonly known as Sasha Belov, was a Soviet basketball player. During his playing career, he played at the center position. Belov is most remembered for scoring the game-winning basket of the gold medal game of the 1972 Munich Summer Olympic Games, which gave the gold medal to the senior Soviet national team. In 1978, when just 26 years old, Belov died of cardiac sarcoma, a type of cancer.
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 Other Dream Team is a documentary film directed by Marius A. Markevičius. It covers the inspirational story of the 1992 Lithuania national basketball team and their journey to the bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The film not only looks at the Lithuanian team but also at the broader historical events. The fall of the Soviet Union allowed Lithuania to reestablish its independence and enter the Olympics as an independent country.
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