| Type: | Olympics |
| City: | Athens |
| Year: | 2004 |
| Size: | 150px |
| Games: | 2004 Summer Olympics |
| Host: | Greece |
| Dates: | 15–28 August 2004 |
| Men Teams: | 12 |
| Men Gold: | Argentina |
| Men Silver: | Italy |
| Men Bronze: | United States |
| Women Teams: | 12 |
| Women Gold: | United States |
| Women Silver: | Australia |
| Women Bronze: | Russia |
| Prev: | Sydney 2000 |
| Next: | Beijing 2008 |
Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics was the sixteenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at the Helliniko Olympic Indoor Arena, a part of the Hellinikon Olympic Complex, in Athens, for the preliminary rounds, with the later stages being held in the Olympic Indoor Hall at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex.[1] thumb|right|Italy and Argentina warming up before the game.
Argentina, led by NBA standouts like Manu Ginóbili and Luis Scola, won the country's first and only gold medal in the event.
In Olympic basketball tournaments, 12 teams take part. The host nation (Greece in 2004) automatically receives a berth in the tournament. By winning the two World Championship tournaments in 2002, FR Yugoslavia, now named Serbia and Montenegro, also put a team into the men's tournament and the United States a team in the women's tournament.
The remaining 10 spots in each tournament were allocated by the five Olympic zones. Each of these zones held its own tournaments to select its entries in the Olympic tournament. Africa was allocated one spot in each of these, Oceania was allocated two apiece, and Europe was allocated three. Furthermore, the Americas were allocated three teams for the men's tournament and just one in the women's tournament, whereas Asia was allocated just one in the men's tournament and three in the women's tournament.
The United States team's third-place finish in the men's tournament was an embarrassment for the country that birthed the sport. The following Summer Olympics, the U.S. was represented by the Redeem Team, sporting an improved roster led by international superstars like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade, under the coaching of Mike Krzyzewski, and returned the gold medal to America.
See also: List of Olympic medalists in basketball.
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) may enter just one men's team with 12 players, and just one women's team with 12 players in the regional tournaments. 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 teams from the Americas and Europe competitions, and the runner-up Oceania in the men's tournament. For the women's tournament, the extra teams consisted of the runner-up and third place teams from Asia and Europe, and the runner-up from Oceania.
See main article: Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification.
| width=13% | Africa ! | width=13% | Americas ! | width=13% | Asia ! | width=13% | Europe ! | width=13% | Oceania ! | width=26% | Automatic qualifiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – World champions – Olympic hosts |
See main article: Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's qualification.
| width=13% | Africa ! | width=13% | Americas ! | width=13% | Asia ! | width=13% | Europe ! | width=13% | Oceania ! | width=26% | Automatic qualifiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – World champions – Olympic hosts |
Tie-breaking criteria:
The men's event involved twelve teams split equally into two groups.
See also: Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads.
Group A:
Group B:
The women's event involved 12 teams split in two groups.
See also: Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's team squads.
Group A:
Group B:
See main article: Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament.
The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.
See main article: Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament.
The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.
| Rank | Men | Women | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=180px | Team ! | width=20px | Pld ! | width=20px | W ! | width=20px | L ! | width=150px | Team ! | width=20px | Pld ! | width=20px | W ! | width=20px | L |
| 8 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 4th | 8 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | |||||||||
| Eliminated at the quarterfinals | |||||||||||||||
| 5th | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |||||||||
| 6th | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |||||||||
| 7th | 7 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
| 8th | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||
| Preliminary round 5th placers | |||||||||||||||
| 9th | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
| 10th | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| Preliminary round 6th placers | |||||||||||||||
| 11th | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| 12th | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | |||||||||