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. They are 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 second in the FIBA World Rankings, only behind Spain.
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.
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, was the 12th Olympic Championship. Games were held at the Makomanai Ice Arena and at the Tsukisamu Indoor Skating Rink. The Soviet Union won its fourth gold medal. The United States won the silver, while Czechoslovakia won the bronze. Canada did not send a team to the event for the first time since ice hockey was first competed at the Olympics in 1920, instead competing with and defeating the Soviets in a competition later that year known as the Summit Series. Canada would not send a men's hockey team to the Olympics until 1980.
Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics was the second appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. A total number of 23 nations entered the competition.
Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics was the third appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. 23 nations entered the competition.
Basketball contests at the 1972 Summer Olympics was the eighth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle in Munich, Germany from August 27 to September 9. The Soviet Union controversially won the gold medal game against the United States. This was the first time that the USA did not win a gold medal since the sport's introduction into the Olympics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. The bronze was won by Cuba, the only Olympic medal they have won in basketball. Another controversy was suspension of Mickey Coll after a positive drug test.
The United States of America has sent many athletes to the celebration of the Olympic Games, starting with the first modern Olympics held in 1896. The United States has sent athletes to every Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.
Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics was the thirteenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It included the sport of basketball's men's and women's competitions of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The games were played at the Pavelló Olímpic de Badalona. 12 men's teams and 8 women's teams participated in the tournament.
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.
The Australian men's national basketball team, nicknamed the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition.
The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, also known as the Basketball World Cup for Women or simply the FIBA Women's World Cup, is an international basketball tournament for women's national teams held quadrennially. It was created by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Its inaugural game was in 1953 in Chile, three years after the first men's World Championship. For most of its early history, it was not held in the same year as the men's championship, and was not granted a consistent quadrennial cycle until 1967. After the 1983 event, FIBA changed the scheduling so that the women's tournament would be held in even-numbered non-Olympic years, a change that had come to the men's tournament in 1970.
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 1948 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics, along with 22 other basketball teams. The basketball tournament was held in London, England at Wembley Stadium. Team USA won their second straight gold medal after 1936. The team was made up of Amateur Athletic Union and college basketball players.
The 1952 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland from July 14 to August 2, 1952. Warren Womble was the team's head coach, and Phog Allen was the team's main assistant coach. The team won its third straight Summer Olympics basketball gold medal.
The 1956 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia from November 22 to December 1, 1956. The team was led by Bill Russell, who averaged 14.1 points per game. Team USA won the Olympic Gold medal, beating their opponents by an average of 53.5 points, an unsurpassed average margin of victory in Olympic basketball.
The men's national basketball team of the United States competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The team was led by future Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Larry Brown.
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.
The 1976 United States men's Olympic basketball team represented the United States at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The U.S. team won its eighth gold medal, out of the previous nine Summer Olympic Games.
The 1964 United States men's Olympic basketball team represented the United States at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Entering into the Olympics for the sixth time, the United States men's team had won its last 37 games in a row. In the gold medal game, the USA faced the USSR; they were two undefeated teams that were both favorites to win the gold medal. USA won the gold medal for the sixth Olympics in a row, by beating the USSR, 73–59.
The 1968 United States men's Olympic basketball team represented the United States at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico from October 13 to 25, 1968. Team USA won its seventh consecutive gold medal.
Tom Henderson / Dwight Jones 
