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The field is officially set in men's basketball for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. On July 7, the final four teams outlasted the competition and won their respective qualifying tournament to seal their spots in the Olympics. Now, the 12-man field is set and the Olympic groups are finalized.
Check out the gallery, and we will explain everything that you need to know about the the 2024 Olympics when it comes to men's basketball.
Men's basketball groups
Eight countries' basketball teams qualified for the 2024 Olympics during the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Those countries were the United States, France, Canada, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan, Australia, and Germany, the latter of which won the event in 2023. Now, after winning four different qualifying tournaments that featured 24 teams, Greece, Puerto Rico, Spain, and Brazil punched their tickets to the Olympics.
In order to secure the final four spots, Greece beat Croatia, Spain beat the Bahamas, Brazil beat Latvia, and Puerto Rico beat Lithuania. With the qualifiers over, we now know the three groups for hoops action in the Olympics.
Group A:
Canada
Australia
Greece
Spain
Group B:
France
Germany
Japan
Brazil
Group C:
Serbia
South Sudan
Puerto Rico
United States
When is men's basketball in the 2024 Paris Olympics?
The Olympics are set to take place from July 26-August 11. Each team will play every team in their group once. Then, the top eight teams will advance to the bracket portion of the contest. The top two teams from each group as well as the two best third-place teams will move on, while the other teams will be sent home.
The winners in the quarterfinals will advance to the semifinals, while the losers will be eliminated. The winners of the semifinals will advance to the championship game to play for gold, and the losers will play for bronze. NBC will broadcast the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Schedule:
*All times are in ET
July 27: Australia vs. Spain @ 5 a.m., Germany vs. Japan @ 7:30 a.m., France vs. Brazil @ 11:15 a.m., Greece vs. Canada @ 3 p.m.
July 28: South Sudan vs. Puerto Rico @ 5 a.m., Serbia vs. United States @ 11:15 a.m.
July 30: Spain vs. Greece @ 5 a.m., Canada vs. Australia @ 7:30 a.m., Japan vs. France @ 11:15 a.m., Brazil vs. Germany @ 3 p.m.
July 31: Puerto Rico vs. Serbia @ 11:15 a.m., United States vs. South Sudan @ 3 p.m.
August 2: Japan vs. Brazil @ 5 a.m., Australia vs. Greece @ 7:30 a.m., Canada vs. Spain @ 11:15 a.m., France vs. Germany @ 3 p.m.
August 3: Puerto Rico vs. United States @ 11:15 a.m., Serbia vs. South Sudan @ 3 p.m.
August 6: Men's quarterfinals @ 5 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 12 p.m., 3:30 p.m.
August 8: Men's semifinals @ 11:30 a.m., 3 p.m.
August 10: Men's Bronze Medal Game @ 5 a.m., Men's Gold Medal Game @ 3:30 p.m.
Olympics Predictions
As per usual, Team USA goes into the Olympics as the favorites to take home the gold. However, there is more basketball talent spread around the world than ever before. Just last year, in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the United States didn't even medal. Germany, Serbia, and Canada were the three countries that brought home hardware there, with the Germans being the ones who won it all.
Even so, you have to assume that the United States should be able to handle business this go around. The team revamped the roster after the FIBA disappointment, and now the team is being coined as the Redeem Team 2.0. While we predict the United States to win it all with their roster led by all-time greats including LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant, they will have plenty of competition.
In Group C with Team USA are the teams from Serbia, South Sudan, and Puerto Rico. Serbia will likely be their biggest competition during group play. Serbia is led by Nikola Jokic, and he brought his team to a silver medal when he last played in the Olympics in 2016. While the United States did win that game handily, Jokic's powers have increased monumentally since then, and he has now established himself as the best basketball player in the world. Jokic's ability to elevate his teammates makes Serbia a threat.
South Sudan and Puerto Rico are two of the biggest surprises who are Paris bound. South Sudan has never before qualified, and Puerto Rico hasn't played basketball in the Olympics in 20 years. While the teams lack some of the NBA talent as their peers, they will surely come out of the gates hot and ready to create a Cinderella story.
Team USA won't face any Group A or B teams until the quarterfinals, but there are some high-quality teams who can give the United States a run for their money. The German team that won the FIBA World Cup returns a roster filled with players that turned their games up a notch during the summer last year. Mo and Franz Wagner play great together, and Dennis Schroder won the tournament MVP. Serbia came in second in FIBA, and Canada took home the bronze medal.
Canada, in specific, is arguably the team most likely to knock off Team USA. The Canadians boast a roster with NBA players including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, Dillon Brooks, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, RJ Barrett, Lu Dort, Dwight Powell, Kelly Olynyk, Khem Birch, Trey Lyles, and Oshae Brissett.
There are tons of intriguing storylines elsewhere, too. Giannis Antetokounmpo is suiting up for a Greek team that just qualified for the Olympics, Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama form a towering front-court duo for a French team that has the home-court advantage, and Rudy Fernandez will be playing in a record sixth Olympic Games for Spain.
Basketball has become a global sport, and Team USA won't be able to walk away with an easy win. However, Team USA should be extra motivated coming off the FIBA World Cup loss. The Redeem Team was dominant in their revenge tour, and the remake of that team should be as well.
The rest of the United States roster includes Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Kawhi Leonard. The star-studded cast is full of the best players in the NBA. We think that France, Canada, and Germany can all make a run to the semifinals, but the Americans have the talent to prevail and win their 17th gold medal.
