OLYMPIC GAMES
How many times has Team USA won Olympic gold in basketball? List of top winning teams
USA Basketball have dominated the dominated the men’s basketball event since the sport was first introduced at Berlin 1936. The honors list makes impressive reading.
For USA Basketball, the 2024 Olympic Games tips off on Sunday with the first game in Group C against Serbia (11:15 a.m. ET / 8:15 a.m. PT) under the supervision of Steve Kerr. Kerr picked up a gold medal as Gregg Popovich’s assistant at the previous edition of the Games in Tokyo and will be looking to repeat the feat this time as head coach.
The United States boast a star-studded roster in Paris and Kerr will have have the luxury of being able to field a team which on paper, is one of the strongest to ever seen at the tournament which suggests their intent is quite clear - to claim first place on the podium after the final on 10 August.
USA Basketball looking for 17th gold medal in Paris
With LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum, plus a host of the NBA’s other star players, Team USA’s men’s basketball team mean business and have already drawn comparisons with the fabled Dream Team which wowed the world at Barcelona 92 - a side which included Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan...
In Paris, USA Basketball will be attempting to emulate them and win what would be the nation’s 17th gold. Individually, other historic registries are also at stake: Durant could become the first basketball player in history to win four Olympic gold medals, overtaking Carmelo Anthony while LeBron, the team’s all-time leader in assists at the Olympics, is seeking his third gold, after being on the winning side at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
The United States have dominated the men’s basketball event since the sport was first introduced at Berlin 1936. They have finished among the medals in every single edition bar one - Moscow 1980 when the US boycotted the Games and have only been pipped to the gold medal on three occasions - losing the final to the Soviet Union in 1972 and finishing third in Athens 2004 and Seoul 1988.
USA Basketball’s Olympic credentials make impressive reading, let’s see what they’ve won.
United States men's basketball Olympic finals
- 1936 Team USA 19-8 Canada
- 1948 Team USA 65-21 France
- 1952 Team USA 36-25 Soviet Union
- 1956 Team USA 89-55 Soviet Union
- 1960 Team USA 81-57 Soviet Union
- 1964 Team USA 73-59 Soviet Union
- 1968 Team USA 65-50 Yugoslavia
- 1972 Soviet Union 51-50 Team USA
- 1976 Team USA 95-74 Yugoslavia
- 1980 Did not compete
- 1984 Team USA 96-65 Spain
- 1992 Team USA 117-85 Croatia
- 1996 Team USA 95-69 Yugoslavia
- 2000 Team USA 85-75 France
- 2008 Team USA 118-107 Spain
- 2012 Team USA 107-100 Spain
- 2016 Team USA 96-66 Serbia
- 2020 Team USA 87-82 France
USA Basketball’s individual record holders
On an individual level, Durant is USA Basketball’s all-time top scorer at the Olympics with a total of 435 points, which works out at an average of 19.7 points per game.
Carmelo Anthony hold the record for the most points in one game - he took just 14 minutes, 29 seconds to score 37 in the 156-73 win against Nigeria at London 2012. Also in that game, the US recorded the Olympic record for a victory by the biggest margin - 83 points, beating their own previous best of 72, set against Thailand at Melbourne 1956.
The basketball event starts on Saturday in the French town of Lille. The United States start out in Group C with Puerto Rico, South Sudan and Serbia. The first objective for Kerr’s team is to secure a place in the quarter finals in Paris-Bercy. The top two teams in each of the three groups automatically advance to the quarter finals along with the the two best third-placed teams.