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 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.
Americans Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi are the all-time leader for the most Olympic medals in basketball, with five gold, while Teresa Edwards has four gold and one bronze. Seven players have won four medals: American Lisa Leslie, Tamika Catchings, (each with four golds with the women's team) and Carmelo Anthony (three golds and one bronze with the men's team), the Soviet Gennadi Volnov (one gold, two silver, one bronze) and Sergei Belov (one gold, three bronze), and Australians Kristi Harrower and Lauren Jackson (both with three silvers and one bronze). Leslie, Bird, Catchings, and Taurasi are the all-time leaders for the most consecutive gold medal wins in basketball. Six other individuals, all American, have won three golds – Katie Smith, Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, Kevin Durant – and 23 other players, not including the previously mentioned, have won three medals. [6] [7]
The United States of America is by far the most successful country in Olympic basketball, with United States men's teams having won 16 of 19 tournaments in which they participated, including seven consecutive titles from 1936 through 1968. United States women's teams have won 9 titles out of the 11 tournaments in which they competed, including seven in a row from 1996 to 2020. Besides the United States, Argentina is the only nation still in existence who 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 who have won the tournament. The United States are the defending champions in both 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, 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:
Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
2020 Tokyo | United States (USA) Stefanie Dolson Allisha Gray Kelsey Plum Jackie Young | ROC Evgeniia Frolkina Olga Frolkina Yulia Kozik Anastasia Logunova | China (CHN) Wan Jiyuan Wang Lili Yang Shuyu Zhang Zhiting |
2024 Paris |
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sue Bird | United States | 2004–2020 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
1 | Diana Taurasi | United States | 2004–2020 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
3 | Teresa Edwards | United States | 1984–2000 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
4 | Lisa Leslie | United States | 1996–2008 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
4 | Tamika Catchings | United States | 2004–2016 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
4 | Sylvia Fowles | United States | 2008–2020 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
7 | Kristi Harrower | Australia | 2000–2012 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
7 | Lauren Jackson | 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 |
13 | Katrina McClain | United States | 1988–1996 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
14 | Suzy Batkovic | Australia | 2004–2012 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
14 | Sandy Brondello | Australia | 1996–2004 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
14 | Trisha Fallon | Australia | 1996–2004 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
14 | Rachael Sporn | Australia | 1996–2004 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
14 | Belinda Snell | Australia | 2004–2012 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
14 | Laura Summerton | Australia | 2004–2012 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
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.
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. Recognized as one of the best European players of all time and one of the best big-man passers in the history of the game, he 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.
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.
Darrall Tucker Imhoff was an American professional basketball player. He spent 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for six teams from 1960 to 1972. He made an NBA All-Star team, and was also an Olympic Gold medalist. He is perhaps best remembered for being one of the defenders tasked with guarding Wilt Chamberlain during his famed 100-point game in 1962.
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.
Anne Theresa Donovan was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun.
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.
Nikolaos Georgalis, commonly known as either Nikos Galis, or Nick Galis, is a Greek former professional basketball player. Galis, who during his playing days was nicknamed, "Nick The Greek", "The Gangster", and "The Iron Man", is widely regarded as Europe's greatest scorer to ever play the game, and as one of the all-time greatest players in FIBA international basketball history. In 1991, Galis was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players. In 2007, he became an inaugural member of the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. In 2017, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was named one of the 101 Greats of European Basketball. In 2022, he was inducted in to the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame.
Renato William Jones, also known as R. William, or simply William Jones, was a British basketball executive and popularizer of basketball in Europe and in Asia. He held an honorary doctorate from Springfield College.
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.
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.
The Italian Basketball Hall of Fame is a hall of fame that honours individuals that have contributed to the spread and improvement of Italian basketball, through their sporting contributions, their behaviour and their actions in support of the game in Italy.