Highlights
- The 2024 Paris Olympics Men’s Basketball Tournament will feature global talent and NBA stars.
- The tournament format is similar to the World Cup, with 12 countries in three groups, followed by a knockout stage.
- The USA is favored to win a fifth straight Gold Medal, with Canada, France, Serbia and Greece as top contenders.
The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will begin on July 26 and run through August 11. The stage is set for the best athletes in the world to compete in their respective sports, and one of the most popular is the men’s basketball tournament.
But with the game becoming more global by the year, there aren’t any 1992 USA Dream Team-like squads ready to roll through the competition on the way to a Gold Medal.
Greece, led by Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, will play in this year’s tournament. Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has Serbia primed for a run. France, Canada and Spain have players who NBA fans will surely be familiar with.
But how is the tournament set up? Who are the favorites to end up on the medal stand? How, where and when can you catch the games?
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 Olympics Men’s Basketball Tournament.
2024 Olympics Men’s Basketball Tournament Format
This isn’t quite like the NBA playoffs
The Olympics basketball tournaments are set up more like the World Cup. Or in the NBA world, more like the new In-Season Tournament.
Twelve countries qualify and are broken up into three groups of four. Each team plays the other three teams in its group as part of the Group Stage and the top two teams in each group advance to the Knockout Stage, which is essentially a single-elimination, eight-team tournament.
The two teams with the best records that didn’t finish in the top two of their group also advance past the Group Stage.
There’s a championship game to decide the Gold and Silver Medalists and a consolation game to determine which country earns a Bronze Medal.
- Group A: Australia, Greece, Canada, Spain
- Group B: France, Germany, Japan, Brazil
- Group C: Serbia, South Sudan, Puerto Rico, United States
How to watch the Olympics Men’s Basketball Tournament
What channels and times are the games on?
The tournament starts on Saturday, July 27, and all games can be watched on the NBC family of networks, including NBC, USA Network, CNBC and E! and can be streamed on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, NBC app and the NBC Olympics app.
Tournament Schedule
Who plays when and where?
The tournament officially kicks off at 5 a.m. ET on July 27, with Australia taking on Spain in Group A.
The United States’ first game comes against Jokic and Serbia at 11:15 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 28.
Group stage games run through August 3 and the quarterfinals begin on August 6. The Bronze Medal Game is scheduled for 5 a.m. ET on August 10 with the Gold Medal Game to follow at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Past Olympics winners
Which countries have won the most Gold Medals?
The USA is coming off four straight Gold Medals and has won seven of the last eight tournaments. Argentina won Gold in the 2004 tournament.
Olympics Men’s Basketball Betting Favorites
Which country is favored and which may be the best bet?
The United States is favored to win its fifth straight Gold Medal at -390. Canada (+900), France (+1000), Serbia (+1300) and Greece (+1900) round out the top five.
Team Canada would be solid value with a squad that includes NBA stars such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort and Zach Edey.
Odds courtesy of DraftKings.
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