Unbalanced logo

Best Basketball Olympic Teams of All Time

The US men's team has conquered Olympic basketball for nearly a century. Here are the best basketball Olympic teams that have stood out with particularly dominant showings.

By Joseph D. N. KendrickPublished 6 years ago 5 min read
Like

Looking back at the history of basketball and its Jewish origins in New York, picking the best basketball Olympic teams from the USA is no easy task. Few national teams have been so dominant in a single sport in the history of the Olympics. The men's Olympic basketball team has brought home gold in fifteen out of eighteen Olympic appearances since the 1936 games, when basketball first became an Olympic sport, and it has always medaled. Indeed, even the times the team received silver or bronze medals have been surrounded by controversy. Regardless, nobody can question Team USA's basketball dominance. Here are ten teams who distinguished themselves as particularly impressive.

Barcelona 1992

Photo by Gapvenezia on Wikimedia.org

The 1992 Olympics in Barcelona marked the beginning of a new era in Olympic basketball. For the first time in history, NBA players were allowed to be on Olympic teams. With this restriction lifted, Team USA was ready to make a statement, which is why they formed the 1992 Dream Team. This team included some of the greatest NBA players of all time, including Scottie Pippin, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan. This team was undefeated, putting up more than 100 points in every game and, unsurprisingly, taking home the gold.

Beijing 2008

Photo by kris krüg on Wikimedia.org

If any other team deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the legendary 1992 Dream Team, it's the 2008 "Redeem Team," which dominated at the Beijing Olympics. This team included some of the greatest players of the modern era, including LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and the 2008 NBA MVP, Kobe Bryant. This team won by an average margin of 27.9 points per game, handily making their way to the final. While the gold medal game against Spain proved to be less of a blowout than expected, and was truly neck and neck until the USA basketball team pulled ahead in the fourth quarter, they still managed to win the gold.

Rome 1960

Public Domain Photo

Before the 1992 Dream Team, Olympic basketball was a different animal. Olympic teams were made up of younger amateur players who hadn't been in the NBA. Nonetheless, the 1960 team didn't appear to have any trouble dominating the Rome Olympics. This year was notable for a highly anticipated matchup between the USA and the Soviet Union, who were in the midst of the Cold War. Despite the hype, the game was rather one-sided, with the US team handily winning 81-57. With such a dominant showing in 1960, this was undoubtedly one of the best basketball Olympic teams of all time.

Melbourne 1956

Public Domain Photo

Just four years before a dominant showing at the 1960 Olympic games in Rome, a completely different team with a different coach was perhaps even more dominant at the 1956 Olympic games in Melbourne. Led by the duo of KC Jones and Bill Russel, both eventually star players for the Boston Celtics, who would eventually make their way down the road to the Hall of Fame, this was certainly one of the best basketball Olympic teams of the 20th century. After yet another undefeated Olympics showing, this team handily won the gold against the Soviet Union.

London 2012

Photo by Tim Shelby on Wikimedia.org

Putting post-1992 basketball teams on this least almost feels like cheating, as the NBA-fueled USA basketball teams since then have dominated in almost every Olympics appearance since (2004 being the only exception). Like most of these NBA-populated teams, the 2012 London team was packed with some of the top 10 active NBA players and coached by Mike Krzyzewski, who has several gold medals under his belt (not to mention the championships he's won as Duke University's head coach). Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant also helped lead this team to an unsurprising blowout, remaining undefeated through the gold medal game against Spain.

Atlanta 1996

Photo by Miesmann on Wikimedia.org

Known as the "Dream Team II," the 1996 Atlanta team carried on the tradition of one of the best basketball Olympic teams ever. Five members of the 1992 Dream Team returned for this showing, bolstered by newcomers like Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, and Grant Hill. With nine current or future Hall-of-Famers on the roster, this year was another relatively easy gold medal for Team USA. It's a shame this team doesn't get as much recognition as the original Dream Team. If nothing else, however, they certainly solidified USA basketball dominance.

Los Angeles 1984

Photo by Truett Holmes on Wikimedia.org

The USA men's basketball team at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles was the last truly great team of the pre-NBA era in Olympic basketball. This team was built for success under the direction of legendary and controversial head coach Bobby Knight. Some of the players featured on the team included then-college students Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, and Chris Mullin. These three players, who would all end up in the NBA Hall of Fame, were also on the 1992 Dream Team, making them the only Olympic men's basketball players to win gold as both amateurs and professionals.

Munich 1972

Photo by Giorgio Lotti on Wikimedia.org

The 1972 gold medal game between the USA and the USSR was one of the most heartbreaking Olympic basketball games of all time. The undefeated US men's basketball team led its Soviet opponents by a small margin in the final seconds of the final game. With three seconds remaining on the clock, there was controversy regarding a miscommunication between the USSR team's coach, the scorer's table, and the referees. It is unknown exactly what went wrong, but it was likely some sort of human error. Regardless, the confusion caused officials to reset the clock, giving the USSR team enough time to sink a layup at the buzzer, giving them their first basketball gold. To this day, the 1972 men's basketball Olympic team has refused to accept their silver medals in protest of the game.

London 1948

Public Domain Photo

The 1948 Olympics were unusual to say the least, as most of the world was still in recovery from World War II. To determine who would be head coach of the 1948 men's Olympic basketball team, a tournament was held. The final game of the tournament was a matchup between the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) Philips 66ers and the University of Kentucky Wildcats. The 66ers came out on top, and their head coach Omar Browning became head coach of the Olympic team. To build the Olympic team, the coach essentially combined the best players from his team with the best players from Kentucky, leading to a handy victory over France for the gold medal.

Tokyo 1964

Photo by Charles Deluvio 🇵🇭🇨🇦 on Unsplash

The 1964 Olympic games in Tokyo was a key moment in the history of USA basketball Olympic teams. The 1964 team struggled to live up to the legendary teams from the 1956 and 1960 games against the increasing strength of the perennial rival team from the Soviet Union. In addition to this struggle, the United States was in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, with black athletes threatening to boycott the Olympics altogether. If that were to have happened, it would have completely ruined any chance the US had at gold. Luckily for the team, black athletes decided to play after all, leading the men's team to victory over the Soviets for another gold medal.

basketball
Like

About the Creator

Joseph D. N. Kendrick

Writer of words. Haver of cats. joeykendrick.com

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.