The United States men’s basketball team will open the Paris Olympics against Serbia, and likely NBA superstar Nikola Jokić, while the U.S. women start the Games against the team they beat three summers ago for the gold.
According to the results of the Olympic men’s and women’s basketball tournament draws on Tuesday, conducted by FIBA at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland, near Geneva, the U.S. men will face the Serbians on July 28, South Sudan and a team yet to qualify in their group stage. The American women will open against 2020 silver medalist Japan on July 29, and will also play Belgium and Germany in the first round. The men’s tournament goes from July 27 to Aug. 10; the women’s from July 28 to Aug. 11.
The two American teams are both reigning gold medalists and will play in Group C for the Paris Games group stage. The U.S. women are champions seven consecutive times while the men have captured the last four Olympic golds.
The U.S. women are heavy favorites to repeat, but the same cannot be said for the American men who are expected to send a star-studded roster to France, but will nonetheless face a pool with more NBA talent spread across the other countries’ rosters than ever before.
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For instance, the Americans will face Serbia, runner-up at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, with Jokić on the roster.
The South Sudanese are making their first Olympic appearance and should have the possible No. 1 pick of the 2025 NBA draft — Khaman Maluach — on the roster. The U.S. plays South Sudan in a friendly in London on July 20.
The other potential opponents for the U.S. men in the first round are Italy, Bahrain, Ivory Coast, Lithuania, Mexico or Puerto Rico, who are competing against each other in one of four Olympic qualifying tournaments held around the world from July 2-7.
The Lithuanians, with Pelicans center Jonas Valančiūnas, were one of three teams to beat the U.S. during the World Cup last summer. And yet, of the three pools for the men’s group stage, the U.S. probably had the best draw possible. It should be noted that the U.S. finished fourth at the World Cup with a roster of mostly up-and-coming NBA stars, instead of the heavyweights the Americans traditionally send to the Olympics.
In Group A are Canada, third-place winner at the World Cup with a roster stocked with NBA talent, including MVP hopeful Shai Gilgeous Alexander; Australia, another country with an array of NBA players and then potentially Spain and either Greece or Slovenia. All three countries must win qualifying tournaments to reach the Olympics, and Greece (with Giannis Antetokounmpo) and Slovenia (with Luka Dončić) are in the same qualifier. Sheesh.
In Group B is tournament host and 2020 silver medalist France, with Victor Wembanyama and 13 other NBA players from the country to pick from; World Cup champion Germany, who should have at least four NBA players, including Franz Wagner and Dennis Schröder; Japan and the winning team from a Latvia-hosted qualifying tournament.
“Between last September, the most followed FIBA (event) ever, the basketball World Cup, to the Paris 2024 Olympics, these are 12 fantastic months of FIBA basketball,” Andreas Zagklis, secretary general of FIBA, said before Tuesday’s Olympic draw commenced. “We also have great momentum with a generation of superstars being followed by a young generation of new superstars.
“So, of course, basketball at the world level is synonymous with superstars, we know that,” Zagklis continued. “But we also have an ambition to be, and I think we will be, the No. 1 indoor ticketed event in Paris 2024. There are two rules: there are no groups that are easy after this draw, so whoever you see smiling, just say ‘see you in August in Paris.’ And two, buy your tickets as of tomorrow.”
To be clear, the American women have not lost an Olympic game since 1992, nor have they lost any international tournament games since 2006.
One more gold will set the new Olympic record for consecutive titles in basketball; they’re currently tied with the U.S. men from 1936 to 1968.
For reference, the U.S. women “only” beat host Japan by 15 in the gold medal game in Tokyo, and in a romp to another World Cup championship in 2022, their only remote challenges were issued by Belgium and China early in the tournament.
The Chinese, runner-up to the U.S. women at the World Cup, are in Pool A with Serbia, Spain and Puerto Rico. Pool B includes the Australians, Canada, Nigeria and host France, bronze medalists from the Tokyo Games.
The U.S. men will play South Sudan on July 31 and the winner of the qualifying tournament in the group stage finale on Aug. 3. The U.S. women will play Belgium Aug. 1 and finish their group play against Germany on Aug. 4.
Group play for the men’s and women’s tournaments will be held in Lille, France, near the Belgian border, in an outdoor soccer stadium with a retractable roof, while knockout stages and the medal round at Accor Arena in Paris.
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USA group-play game times
- Men: vs. Serbia, July 28, 11:15 a.m. ET; vs. South Sudan, July 31, 3 p.m. ET; vs. TBD, Aug. 3, 11:15 a.m. ET
- Women: vs. Japan, July 29, 3 p.m. ET; vs. Belgium, Aug. 1, 3 p.m. ET; vs. Germany, Aug. 4, 11:15 a.m. ET
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(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)