The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States Men's National Basketball Team, is the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in all eighteen Olympic tournaments it has entered, coming away with fifteen golds. In the professional era, the team won the Olympic gold medal in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016. 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.
Arvydas Romas SabonisLithuanian pronunciation: [ˈaːrviːdaːs ˈsaːboːnʲɪs]; born December 19, 1964) is a Lithuanian retired professional basketball player and businessman. Recognized as one of the best European players of all time, he won the Euroscar six times, and the Mr. Europa Award twice. He played in a variety of leagues, and spent seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), in the United States. 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, while 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 the age of 31, in 1995.
Andrés Marcelo Nocioni is an Argentine-Italian retired professional basketball player. Early in his career he played as a small forward, but spent the latter years of his career as a power forward. He was a two-time All-EuroLeague selection before spending eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 2004 to 2012. Nocioni won a EuroLeague title in 2015, earning the EuroLeague Final Four MVP Award in the process.
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.
Saulius Štombergas is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player and basketball coach. He is currently a free agent. Štombergas is one of the greatest Lithuanian basketball players of all time, and he was also considered to be a great team leader, as he managed to play very well under pressure, and at the end of games. He was also known for his 3-point shooting ability.
Ramūnas Šiškauskas is a former Lithuanian professional basketball player and basketball coach. At a listed height of 6'6" tall, he could play at both the shooting guard and small forward positions. His individual accolades as a player include a EuroLeague MVP award, four All-EuroLeague Team selections, as well as an All-EuroBasket Team designation. On May 16, 2014, Šiškauskas was named a EuroLeague Basketball Legend.
Basketball contests at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held from August 9, 2008 to August 24, 2008. Competitions were held at the Wukesong Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China.
The Lithuania national women's basketball team represents Lithuania in international basketball matches.
The men's tournament of basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics at Athens, Greece began on August 15 and lasted until August 28. The games were held at the Helliniko Olympic Indoor Arena and Olympic Indoor Hall.
Argentina competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, China, from 8 to 24 August 2008. 137 athletes qualified for the Olympic Games in 19 sports. Emanuel Ginóbili, basketball player and gold medalist at the 2004 Summer Olympics, was the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
Lithuania competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008.
The History of the FIBA Basketball World Cup began in 1950, with the first FIBA Basketball World Cup, which was the 1950 FIBA World Championship. The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been held every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1950.
The men's tournament in basketball at the 2012 Olympic Games in London began on 29 July and ended on 12 August. All preliminary games were held at the Basketball Arena within the Olympic Park, while the knockout matches took place at The O2 Arena.
Basketball at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was held from 6 to 21 August 2016. The preliminary and knockout matches for men were played inside the Carioca Arena 1 in Olympic Park which seats up to 16,000 spectators, and the matches for women were played in Youth Arena. This marked the first time that the men's and women's Olympic tournaments were played in multiple/separate venues. Hosting country, Brazil, failed to make it to the quarterfinals of both the men's and women's division after being eliminated from the group stage. Three countries in both categories took all of the medals: United States, Serbia and Spain.
The men's tournament in basketball at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro began on 6 August and ended on 21 August.
Lithuania competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Games in the post-Soviet era and ninth overall in Summer Olympic history.
