How many medals does USA National Basketball Team have?

One of the few modern sports with familiar origins was invented in 1891 by the Canadian James W. Naismith, an instructor at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, now Springfield College. The game has been played with peach baskets initially, and an attendant on a ladder retrieved the ball after a made basket. Naismith formulated 13 rules, of which 12 still form the basics of the modern basketball game.

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Medals at the Olympics

Basketball made its first appearance as a medal sport at the Berlin 1936 Olympics, although it was previously at St. Louis 1904 games program as a demonstration sport. At Montreal 1976, women's basketball premiered in the program. Since the introduction at the games, the United States had a commanding role in international basketball. How great it is the United States National Team domination of the men's and women's competitions perfectly describes their medal tally. In the 18 editions contested, the "star and stripes" team won 28 medals: twenty-three gold, two silver, and three bronze. The only edition in which the United States did not appear on the podium was the Moscow 1980 Olympics, as they boycotted the games for political reasons.

Until Barcelona 1992 Games, the selection of the U.S. team was only considering amateur players (college players). But thanks to former NBA commissioner David Stern and his long-term vision of worldwide basketball expansion, had opened the competition for the first time to the participation of professional NBA players. One of the most potent teams in the history of this sport attending the games, known since then by the nickname of Dream Team, which brought together such extraordinary players as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, or Larry Bird.

Since then, this team is setting standards at the Olympic basketball tournament, although at Athens 2004, the NBA players were surprised at the semi-final. They lost for the first time in the knockout phase of team Argentina, later Olympic champion led by Manu Ginóbili and Luis Scola, later prominent NBA players themselves. At Beijing 2008, the U.S. team just showed that the Athens performance was just a minor hiccup, and since then, they won three golds in succession, with the latest gold won in Rio de Janeiro, defeating Serbia in the men's final.

Soviet women vs US women

On the female side, Soviet women have initially been the top team, but the USA women have surpassed them, continuing their winning streak from LA 1984 to the last edition of the games at Rio 2016.

Five women, Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tamika Catchings, and Teresa Edwards, have won four Olympic basketball gold medals. In contrast, among men, only Portland Trailblazers' Carmelo Anthony has won three gold medals.