How is the olympic basketball team chosen

History, top teams and all you need to know

Basketball was invented in the United States of America in 1891. But it didn’t take too long for the sport to become popular. Today, it’s one of the most-watched sports in the world.

Its rise can be traced back to its roots in a gym class in Springfield, Massachusetts, making its way into high school and colleges before evolving into a professional sport it is today. Eventually, it made its way to the sport’s grandest events.

When did basketball start in the Olympics?

Basketball was introduced in the Olympic programme at the 1904 Games in St Louis as a demonstration event. Basketball was first contested as a medal event at the 1936 Olympics. Women’s basketball, meanwhile, made its debut at the Montreal 1976 Games.

3x3 basketball made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

Who qualifies for Olympic basketball?

A total of 12 teams, each in the men’s and the women’s competition, qualify for the basketball event at the Olympic Games.

While seven teams can gain entry through the FIBA World Cup, four slots are determined through the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament. The last remaining slot is reserved for the hosts.

Which country has won the most Olympic gold medals in basketball?

The United States of America is the most successful team in the history of Olympics basketball.

The USA Olympic men’s basketball team has won the gold medal a record 16 times, which includes an unbeaten streak from 1936 to 1968.

The USA women’s basketball team, meanwhile, has pocketed the gold medal on nine occasions. This includes an unbeaten run that’s still in place and dates back to Atlanta 1996.

USA dominates Olympic basketball

Having invented the sport in the late 1800s, it was no surprise that the USA dominated basketball once it was included as a medal event at the 1936 Olympics.

With the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) playing a key role in spreading the sport to various nations, as many as 21 teams competed for the top honours at the Berlin 1936 Games.

But none could stand in the USA’s way as they romped home to emphatic wins in each of their matches to take home the gold.

The coming years saw the Americans grow stronger as they retained the Olympic title in commanding fashion. With no losses throughout their campaigns, their wins in the gold medal matches were most startling.

The USA basketball team beat France 65-21 in the final of the 1948 Games. The Soviet Union, meanwhile, lost to the Americans in the following four editions -- 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1964 -- with the champions recording dominating wins to retain their crown.

This period also saw the rise of the Soviet Union as a force in the international basketball scene.

The Soviets had made their presence felt at the continental stage by winning the biennial European Basketball Championships 10 times from 1951 to 1971 and the FIBA World Championships in 1972.

And when the 1972 Munich Olympics came around, their sole focus was to capture the only title missing from their cabinet -- an Olympic gold in basketball.

USA gets a shock at Munich Olympics

Coming into the Munich Olympics, the Americans were once again favourites to retain their title. But a look at their build-up suggested otherwise.

They had lost out to the Soviets in the final of the 1970 World University Games and bowed out of the 1971 Pan American Games without a medal.

What really hurt them in this phase was the lack of international experience in the squad. With the Olympic competition being restricted to amateurs, the best hoopsters in America were kept out of the Olympic team -- as they turned pro by joining the NBA -- while the top collegiate talent made up the squad.

Though this worked for the USA in the previous editions, this time the Soviets had found a way to exploit the American limitation by listing their players as soldiers or workers, which allowed them to breach the amateur rules.

This meant while the USA had high school sophomore Doug Collins and the North Carolina State University rookie Tommy Burleson as their best players, the Soviets rode on the brilliance of experienced stars Sergei Belov, Modestas Paulauskas and Alexander Belov.

However, it wasn’t until the gold medal game that the lack of experience came to haunt the USA.

Having come into the gold medal match without losing a game, the final was expected to be a close contest. But the Soviets had a different plan.

The USA lost to the Soviet Union in the final of the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

Picture by Getty Images

The Soviet Union basketball team controlled the proceedings with smart ball play, often using the length of the court to stretch the American defence to score points at will. The Soviets scored first and led by the healthy margin of 26-21 at the half.

“We particularly struggled against the Russians because they were adept at controlling the tempo,” Mike Bantom, a member of the ’72 team, now senior vice president for NBA player development, told the New York Times.

While the Americans mounted a comeback in the second period it wasn’t until the final six minutes that they had their opponents in trouble.

Trailing by eight points, the Americans put pressure and saw the Soviets stumble, helping them reduce the gap to just a point with six seconds left on the clock.

Down to the wire for the gold medal, Doug Collins - the pillar of his team - was not done yet as he made a fine open-court steal and drove towards the paint before being knocked down.

The foul meant the Americans were awarded two free throws to seal the match. While Collins sank them both to put his side ahead, the Soviets called for a time-out.

The game resumed with a second left, and when that went by, the United States players started celebrating. But the drama was not over yet.

Moments later, the FIBA president was seen on court asking for a redo of the final three seconds due to a refereeing error.

This time though, the Soviets ensured that they made the most of the opportunity as Alexander Belov pulled out a buzzer-beater to subject the USA to their first loss at the Olympic stage.

Though the Americans appealed against the final decision, it was turned down as the Soviet Union won their maiden basketball Olympic crown.

The Dream Team

The coming years also saw a number of countries making the most of the loopholes in the amateur player rule to field top talents at the Olympics.

However, this changed in 1992 after FIBA ruled to include professionals for the Barcelona Olympics.

This allowed the USA to select what was later dubbed as the greatest sports team ever assembled.

The team featured the likes of NBA superstars Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen and Karl Malone among others.

The Dream Team, coached by Chuck Daly, a two-time NBA champion, had a pre-competition camp in Monaco and then moved into a luxury hotel in Barcelona, where they stayed during the Games.

The Dream Team dominated the Olympic competition, sailing through to win the gold medal. They were the first team to score 100 points in every match at the Games, something that led to their head coach commenting: “It was like Elvis and the Beatles put together. ”

However, it’s the legacy that the team left behind that had a lasting impact on the popularity that basketball enjoys today.

Following Barcelona 1992, foreign recruits have been a major draw in the NBA with Yao Ming and Andrea Bargnani being the number one draft picks in (2002) and (2006) respectively. Meanwhile, Dirk Nowitzki and Giannis Antetokounmpo have won the NBA MVP award since.

Olympic basketball winners: Men's

Women’s basketball at the Olympics

While the men’s game has enjoyed a storied history under the Olympic banner, women’s basketball has a similarly rich vein of tales to tap into.

The USA is the most successful team in women's Olympic basketball with eight titles.

Making its debut at the 1976 Games in Montreal, women’s basketball has been a constant presence at the Olympics ever since.

The Soviet Union was the first to claim the Olympic title in the women’s category by beating the United States in the final at the 1976 Games. While the Soviets retained their crown at their home Games in 1980, the Americans took the gold medals in the following two Games.

In 1992, a Unified Team consisting of the former Soviet Republics beat China for the title.

The Americans, however, returned to regain their crown at Atlanta 1996 and have won the title at every edition since.

Olympic basketball winners: Women's

USA Basketball - Why Can Pros Complete in International Events

By Jan Hubbard

If there is one basketball rule that has consistently befuddled the experts, it is the rule that led to the participation of NBA players in the Olympics.  

In 1988, the U.S. lost to the Soviet Union in the Olympic semifinal game in Seoul, South Korea, and had to settle for the bronze medal. About eight months later, the rules were changed and NBA players became eligible to play in international competition. So the assumption by a large segment of the media was that American basketball officials were angered by the loss, and thus decided to declare NBA players eligible so the U.S. could reclaim its rightful spot as the best basketball country in the world. 

That would seem to make sense - except that it is not true. When the U.S. team with college players lost in 1988, the only players who could not participate in international competition were NBA players. Brazil's brilliant scoring machine Oscar Schmidt was playing in Italy and earning a salary in the $500,000 per year range at the time. So were many others. 

To FIBA Secretary-General Boris Stankovic, the head of the organization that governs international basketball, that did not seem fair. So he decided a change was needed and he led the movement to change the rules. 

At the time, the NBA was not even a part of the organization that came to be known as USA Basketball, the governing body for basketball in the U.S. When the vote to change the rules was taken, in fact, the U.S. representatives voted against it. They were content for the U.S. to be represented by amateurs. 

Once the rules were changed, however, the NBA was invited to become a part of USA Basketball, and it was determined that NBA players would play in the Olympics and World Championships with college and other young players continuing to represent the U.S. in all other international competition. 

What is even less known, however, is that in 1986 - two years before Americans lost in '88 - the rules were nearly changed. Stankovic introduced the resolution for open play at a FIBA convention, and the vote to allow all professionals to play was 31-27. At the time, Stankovic said 18 or 19 countries abstained from voting, but if only five had changed and voted "yes," the resolution would have passed and the original Dream Team could have debuted in 1988 rather than 1992.  

The truth, however, is puzzling. Why would international executives who want to win gold medals change a system after they won a gold medal? 

"Two reasons," Stankovic said. "Our competition was closed to the NBA players, but no one else. That seems immoral. The second is very simple. Our feeling is that only by playing with the best players in the world can everyone else make progress. If you are from another country and you can run a race against Carl Lewis, maybe you don't have a chance. But you still want to run." 

We saw that in 1992. The Dream Team whacked everyone it played, but the international players were thrilled to be on the same court. The experience for them was the same that it was for the rest of the world. That team was not only unforgettable but also responsible for the enormous boost in popularity for basketball on a global basis. 

But the credit for that group getting the opportunity to play on the same team does not belong to anyone in the NBA or USA Basketball. It belongs to Boris Stankovic and his group of farsighted executives, who understood that the best way for basketball to grow globally was to put the greatest players on the world stage. 

About the Author: Jan Hubbard is a former editor of Hoop magazine. 

2024 | Basketball: Olympic Qualification Rules

The basketball tournament at the Paris Olympics promises to be full of surprises. The US women's team has been unbeaten in gold medals since the Atlanta Games, and the men's team since Beijing 2008, but the level of other teams has grown significantly in recent years. Will we have new Olympic champions?

We will know the answer to this question only in the summer of 2024, but it will be possible to form an opinion about the capabilities of the teams during the international competitions and Olympic qualification tournaments that will be held in the next two years. The first of these will be FIBA ​​Women's World Basketball Championship starting on September 22.

Answering basic questions about basketball qualification for the Paris Olympics.

How many basketball players will go to Paris 2024?

A total of 288 players (24 teams) will compete in the basketball tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The number of players is the same for men and women - 144 athletes of each gender . Each tournament will feature 12 commands .

France reserves one quota for each gender as the host country . However, the final decision on these quotas will be made by the central bureau of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) on June 30, 2023. If the Central Bureau decides not to directly award the quota to the host country, then the number of teams that can qualify in the normal way will be increased.

Team USA will come to Paris as the favorite. They have become champions of the last four Olympic Games, including Tokyo 2020 where they defeated France in the final. Led by San Antonio Spurs legend Greg Popovich , the Stars and Stripes won the title with a constellation of NBA stars including Kevin Durant, Zach Lavin, Draymond Green and Jason Tatum .

Women's tournament dominance 9Team USA 0005 is even more absolute - they won gold at the last seven Olympics. Since women's basketball was included in the 90,005 Montreal 1976 Games, 90,006 American women have won the title 9 out of 12 times.

At the Tokyo 2020 tournament, WNBA stars Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi won their fifth Olympic title and beat another legend, Teresa Edwards , became the only basketball players who managed to do so.

Bird will retire at the end of the 2022 WNBA season, but Taurasi may well go to Paris. Most recently, she became the first player over 40 in the WNBA to score 30 points in a single game. In the NBA, only Michael Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki managed to do this.

While Team USA remains the favorite to win for the eighth consecutive time, Team France is among the contenders for the podium. New York Liberty shooting guard likely to feature at home games Marine Joannes and young center Iliana Ruper .

The Belgian team, which has grown significantly in recent years thanks to the likes of Emma Misseman , may also come in as a surprise. In Tokyo 2020, the Belgians reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to hosts Japan 86-85.

The Japanese team is also worth keeping an eye on in Paris 2024 - they play some pretty attractive basketball. In major tournaments, 9 also usually performs well.0005 Australian team .

Basketball in Paris 2024. Key dates

• September 22 - October 1, 2022: FIBA ​​World Basketball Championship among women - 2022, Australia

• June 2023: European Basketball Championship - 2023 9000 9000

  ,0005 August August August : FIBA ​​Men's Olympic Pre-Qualifiers

• August 25 - September 10, 2023: FIBA ​​World Basketball Championship among men-2023, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia

• November 2023: Olympic Fiba Pre-Application tournaments among women

• 9000,0005 November 30, 2023: Noki confirm Fiba use by Fiba use by Fiba use by Fiba use by Fiba use by Fibaba use Fiba. competitions for men and women

• February 2024 : FIBA ​​Women's Olympic Qualifiers

• Date to be announced: 66 Olympic qualification tournaments FIBA ​​among men 2024

• July 8, 2024: Dyaline for applications for games

• 26 - August 11, 2024 2024 in Paris