# Basketball at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Basketball contests at the 1996 Olympic Games was the fourteenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It held from July 20 to August 4, 1996. Games took place in the Morehouse College Gymnasium and in the Georgia Dome.
It was also the last Time until 2020 where 11 slots have available in the Olympics through the FIBA Continental (1 in Africa, 2 in Asia, 3 in America's, 1 in Oceania & 4 in Europe in the allocation slot for the Olympics) and 1 with a Host due to the world champions team USA have direct qualify to the Olympics as host in 1996 Olympics

## Medalists

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men's details | United States (USA) Charles Barkley Penny Hardaway Grant Hill Hakeem Olajuwon Karl Malone Reggie Miller Shaquille O'Neal Gary Payton Scottie Pippen Mitch Richmond David Robinson John Stockton | FR Yugoslavia (YUG) Dejan Tomašević Miroslav Berić Dejan Bodiroga Željko Rebrača Predrag Danilović Vlade Divac Aleksandar Đorđević Saša Obradović Žarko Paspalj Zoran Savić Nikola Lončar Milenko Topić | Lithuania (LTU) Arvydas Sabonis Rimas Kurtinaitis Darius Lukminas Saulius Štombergas Eurelijus Žukauskas Šarūnas Marčiulionis Mindaugas Žukauskas Gintaras Einikis Artūras Karnišovas Rytis Vaišvila Tomas Pačėsas |
| Women's details | United States (USA) Teresa Edwards Dawn Staley Ruthie Bolton Sheryl Swoopes Jennifer Azzi Lisa Leslie Carla McGhee Katy Steding Katrina Felicia McClain Rebecca Lobo Venus Lacy Nikki McCray | Brazil (BRA) Hortência Marcari Oliva Maria Angélica Adriana Aparecida Santos Leila Sobral Maria Paula Silva Janeth Arcain Roseli Gustavo Marta Sobral Silvinha Alessandra Santos de Oliveira Cintia Santos Claudia Maria Pastor | Australia (AUS) Robyn Maher Allison Cook Sandy Brondello Michele Timms Shelley Sandie Trisha Fallon Michelle Chandler Fiona Robinson Carla Boyd Jenny Whittle Rachael Sporn Michelle Brogan |
With the U.S. men's team winning the gold medal, Scottie Pippen would become the first person to win an NBA championship and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice, after having played for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals. He had previously played with the Bulls in the 1992 and later that year, for the "Dream Team" at the Barcelona Olympics.

## Qualification

An NOC may enter up to one men's team with 12 players and up to one women's team with 12 players. The reigning world champions and the host country qualify automatically, as do the winners of the five continental championships, plus the runner-up and third place from the Americas, the runner-up from Asia and the second through fourth places from the Europe tournament. For the women's tournament, the extra teams consisted of the runner-up from the Americas, in addition to the second and third places from Asia and Europe.

### Men

| Africa | Americas | Asia | Europe | Oceania | Automatic qualifiers |
| Angola | Puerto Rico Argentina Brazil | China South Korea | FR Yugoslavia Lithuania Croatia Greece | Australia | United States – World champions and Olympic hosts |

### Women

| Africa | Americas | Asia | Europe | Oceania | Automatic qualifiers |
| Zaire | Canada Cuba | China South Korea Japan | Ukraine Italy Russia | Australia | Brazil – World champions United States – Olympic hosts |

## Format

* Twelve teams are split into two preliminary round groups of six teams each.
* The top four teams from both groups qualify for the knockout stage.
* Fifth and sixth places from each group form an additional bracket to decide 9th–12th places in the final ranking.
* In the quarterfinals, the matchups are as follows: A1 vs. B4, A2 vs. B3, A3 vs. B2 and A4 vs. B1.
** The four eliminated from the quarterfinals form an additional bracket to decide 5th–8th places in the final ranking.
* The winning teams from the quarterfinals meet in the semifinals as follows: A1/B4 vs. A3/B2 and A2/B3 vs. A4/B1.
* The winning teams from the semifinals contest the gold medal. The losing teams contest the bronze.
Tie-breaking criteria:
* Head to head results
* Goal average (not the goal difference) between the tied teams
* Goal average of the tied teams for all teams in its group

## Men's tournament
### Preliminary round

The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.

#### Group A

* Qualified for the quarterfinals
| Team | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Tie |
| United States | 5 | 0 | 522 | 345 | +177 | 10 | |
| Lithuania | 3 | 2 | 427 | 354 | +73 | 8 | 1W–0L |
| Croatia | 3 | 2 | 422 | 386 | +36 | 8 | 0W–1L |
| China | 2 | 3 | 360 | 502 | −142 | 7 | 1W–0L |
| Argentina | 2 | 3 | 351 | 396 | −45 | 7 | 0W–1L |
| Angola | 0 | 5 | 280 | 379 | −99 | 5 | |

#### Group B

* Qualified for the quarterfinals
| Team | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| FR Yugoslavia | 5 | 0 | 478 | 364 | +114 | 10 |
| Australia | 4 | 1 | 492 | 438 | +54 | 9 |
| Greece | 3 | 2 | 402 | 416 | −14 | 8 |
| Brazil | 2 | 3 | 498 | 494 | +4 | 7 |
| Puerto Rico | 1 | 4 | 447 | 465 | −18 | 6 |
| South Korea | 0 | 5 | 422 | 562 | −140 | 5 |

### Knockout stage

| Quarterfinals (July 30) | Quarterfinals (July 30) | Quarterfinals (July 30) | Semifinals (August 1) | Semifinals (August 1) | Semifinals (August 1) | Gold medal (August 3) | Gold medal (August 3) | Gold medal (August 3) |
| B1 | FR Yugoslavia | 128 | | | | | | |
| A4 | China | 61 | | | | | | |
| A4 | China | 61 | B1 | FR Yugoslavia | 66 | | | |
| | | | A2 | Lithuania | 58 | | | |
| A2 | Lithuania | 99 | A2 | Lithuania | 58 | | | |
| B3 | Greece | 66 | | | | | | |
| B3 | Greece | 66 | | | | B1 | FR Yugoslavia | 69 |
| | | | | | | A1 | United States | 95 |
| B2 | Australia | 73 | | | | | | | A1 | United States | 95 |
| A3 | Croatia | 71 | | | |
| A3 | Croatia | 71 | B2 | Australia | 73 | Bronze medal (August 3) | Bronze medal (August 3) | Bronze medal (August 3) |
| | | | A1 | United States | 101 |
| A1 | United States | 98 | A1 | United States | 101 | A2 | Lithuania | 80 |
| B4 | Brazil | 75 | | | | B2 | Australia | 74 |

## Women's tournament
### Preliminary round

The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.

#### Group A

* Qualified for the quarterfinals
| Team | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| Brazil | 5 | 0 | 424 | 360 | +64 | 10 |
| Russia | 4 | 1 | 378 | 342 | +36 | 9 |
| Italy | 3 | 2 | 330 | 309 | +21 | 8 |
| Japan | 2 | 3 | 365 | 396 | −31 | 7 |
| China | 1 | 4 | 347 | 378 | −31 | 6 |
| Canada | 0 | 5 | 293 | 352 | −59 | 5 |

#### Group B

* Qualified for the quarterfinals
| Team | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Tie |
| United States | 5 | 0 | 507 | 339 | +168 | 10 | |
| Ukraine | 3 | 2 | 354 | 358 | −4 | 8 | 1W–0L |
| Australia | 3 | 2 | 369 | 319 | +50 | 8 | 0W–1L |
| Cuba | 2 | 3 | 365 | 377 | −12 | 7 | 1W–0L |
| South Korea | 2 | 3 | 347 | 389 | −42 | 7 | 0W–1L |
| Zaire | 0 | 5 | 287 | 447 | −160 | 5 | |

### Knockout stage

| Quarterfinals (July 31) | Quarterfinals (July 31) | Quarterfinals (July 31) | Semifinals (August 2) | Semifinals (August 2) | Semifinals (August 2) | Gold medal (August 4) | Gold medal (August 4) | Gold medal (August 4) |
| B1 | Brazil | 101 | | | | | | |
| A4 | Cuba | 69 | | | | | | |
| A4 | Cuba | 69 | B1 | Brazil | 81 | | | |
| | | | A2 | Ukraine | 60 | | | |
| A2 | Ukraine | 59 | A2 | Ukraine | 60 | | | |
| B3 | Italy | 50 | | | | | | |
| B3 | Italy | 50 | | | | B1 | Brazil | 87 |
| | | | | | | A1 | United States | 111 |
| B2 | Russia | 70 | | | | | | | A1 | United States | 111 |
| A3 | Australia | 74 | | | |
| A3 | Australia | 74 | A3 | Australia | 71 | Bronze medal (August 4) | Bronze medal (August 4) | Bronze medal (August 4) |
| | | | A1 | United States | 93 |
| A1 | United States | 108 | A1 | United States | 93 | A2 | Ukraine | 56 |
| B4 | Japan | 93 | | | | A3 | Australia | 66 |

## Final standings

| Rank | Men | Men | Men | Men | Women | Women | Women | Women |
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | L | Team | Pld | W | L |
| | United States | 8 | 8 | 0 | United States | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| | FR Yugoslavia | 8 | 7 | 1 | Brazil | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| | Lithuania | 8 | 5 | 3 | Australia | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| 4th | Australia | 8 | 5 | 3 | Ukraine | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Eliminated at the quarterfinals |||||||||
| 5th | Greece | 8 | 5 | 3 | Russia | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| 6th | Brazil | 8 | 3 | 5 | Cuba | 8 | 3 | 5 |
| 7th | Croatia | 8 | 4 | 4 | Japan | 8 | 3 | 5 |
| 8th | China | 8 | 2 | 6 | Italy | 8 | 3 | 5 |
| Preliminary round 5th placers |||||||||
| 9th | Argentina | 7 | 4 | 3 | China | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| 10th | Puerto Rico | 7 | 2 | 5 | South Korea | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Preliminary round 6th placers |||||||||
| 11th | Angola | 7 | 1 | 6 | Canada | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| 12th | South Korea | 7 | 0 | 7 | Zaire | 7 | 0 | 7 |