LeBron James and first-time Olympian Stephen Curry will try to lead Team USA to a fifth consecutive championship. … [+]
The U.S. men’s and women’s basketball teams will enter the 2024 Paris Games as heavy favorites to continue their long history of Olympic success.
Led by Team USA flag-bearer LeBron James and a group of NBA all-stars, the men’s team is seeking its fifth consecutive gold medal in five tournaments, a feat that began with the original 1992 Dream Team of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley, and its seventh gold medal in the past eight tournaments.
Women’s team star Diana Taurasi, 42, is looking to win a record sixth consecutive gold medal. Taurasi won her first gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games. The U.S. women’s team has won seven consecutive gold medals and has won nine of the 11 Olympic Games in which the women have competed.
The men’s tournament will run from July 27 to August 10, with the final taking place at the Bercy Arena in Paris. James and team will open their match on July 28 against Nikola Jokic and Serbia.
Diana Taurasi has won five consecutive gold medals with the U.S. team. … [+]
The women’s tournament will begin on July 28 and run through Aug. 11, with the gold medal game taking place at the AccorHotels Arena. Taurasi and the U.S. women’s team will face Japan on July 29.
Men’s Tournament
format
The 12 national teams are divided into three groups.
Group A: Australia, Canada, Greece, Spain
Group B: Brazil, France, Germany, Japan
Group C: Puerto Rico, Serbia, South Sudan, USA
Teams will play in a round-robin format against other teams in their group, with the first and second place teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals, and the top two third place teams advancing to a single-elimination medal round.
The pool stages will take place at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France, before the finals at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
Team USA center Anthony Davis collided violently with Germany’s Mo Wagner during an Olympic warm-up. … [+]
competition
The U.S. team has won every gold medal since 2004, when Manu Ginobili led Argentina to victories over the U.S. in the semifinals and Italy in the final. The U.S. has only lost one game, to France in the first round of pool play at the last Tokyo Olympics, but bounced back to beat France in the gold medal game.
Host nation France, led by Rudy Gobert and NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, will be a strong contender to make another final appearance, while Canada, Germany and Serbia are also medal contenders.
Germany, featuring brothers Franz and Moe Wagner, are the reigning World Cup champions, while Serbia and Canada are also in the running for medals at the 2023 World Cup. Jokic did not play on Serbia’s silver medal team, which won the bronze medal after beating the United States.
Team Canada players include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (left), RJ Barrett (9) and Lou Dort (0). … [+]
Guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray are among 11 NBA players on Canada’s national team. Two-time NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo led Greece to its first Olympic appearance since 2008. Guard Rudy Fernandez, a Spanish Taurasi player, is the first male athlete to play in six Olympic Games.
Women’s Tournament
format
The 12 teams will be split into three groups.
Group A: China, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Spain
Group B: Australia, Canada, France, Nigeria
Group C: Belgium, Germany, Japan, USA
Teams will play in a round-robin format against other teams in their group, with the first and second place teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals, and the top two third place teams advancing to a single-elimination medal round.
Brittney Griner will return to international competition and aim for her third gold medal in Paris. … [+]
The pool stages will take place at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France, before the finals at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
competition
The U.S. team hasn’t lost an Olympic game since 1992, winning the gold medal at the last Tokyo Olympics by an average margin of victory of 16 points — a decisive but smallest margin since the gold medal streak began in Atlanta in 1992.
The U.S. women have a chance to tie the men’s seventh consecutive gold medal in Paris, the longest winning streak in team Olympic history, which the men held from 1936 to 1968.
The team will welcome back center Brittney Griner, who was Taurasi’s teammate on the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, but missed the 2022 World Cup while serving time in a Russian prison on trumped-up charges.
Emma Meesseman (11) is a key member of the Belgian team, which is expected to be a strong medal contender. … [+]
The U.S. will have a tough time. Pool C partner and host Japan won the silver medal in Tokyo, and reigning Europa League champion Belgium, led by five-time Euroleague champion Emma Meessemann, gave the U.S. a tough time in the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifiers for 2024 in Belgium.
“Other parts of the world are certainly improving,” Taurasi said at a news conference. “It’s not as easy as we’ve seen for years.”
Lauren Jackson, 43, a four-time WNBA MVP, will come out of retirement to lead Australia and help them win a bronze medal at the 2022 World Cup.
Media rights holders around the world are urging LeBron James and other athletes to … [+]
How to watch
All games are available through media rights holders around the world. Rights holders include:
9 in Australia
Brazil’s Globo
Canada’s CBC
CCTV of the People’s Republic of China
Fuji Television/NHK/Nippon Television/TBS/TV Asahi/TV Tokyo
SKY NZ in New Zealand
South African Supersport
NBC in the US
Discover Eurosport across Europe
French TV in France
Germany’s ARD/ZDF
BBC Sports in the UK
Team USA celebrates seventh consecutive Olympic gold medal with a selfie at medal ceremony … [+]
