The FIBA Olympic qualifying tournaments concluded at the end of the first week of July and with the four winners qualifying for the Olympics, we officially have all 12 participating countries in men’s basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 12 countries will be split up into three groups. Australia, Greece, Canada, and Spain will compete in Group A. France, Germany, Japan, and Brazil will compete in Group B. Serbia, South Sudan, Puerto Rico, and the United States will compete in Group C.
Group A
Group A has been dubbed the group of death and rightfully so. Canada is seen as a squad with gold medal potential, boasting a backcourt duo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray while also featuring nine other NBA players. Notable absentees for America’s northern neighbors are Andrew Wiggins and Zach Edey.
While Spain’s golden generation has largely faded out, they only have two players on their roster who played in the NBA last season: Usman Garuba and Santi Aldama, the rest of the roster is filled with ACB and EuroLeague professionals, the next best professional basketball leagues in the world. Rudy Fernandez will be playing in his record-setting sixth Olympic tournament for Spain at 39 years old. He has already announced his retirement as well, making this the final basketball he’ll play in his career.
Greece will have former NBA MVP and NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo. After qualifying through the tournaments earlier in July under new head coach and former Greek basketball legend Vassilis Spanoulis this will be Greece’s first Olympic basketball appearance since 2008. Head Coach Spanoulis played on that 2008 team.
Australia will, of course, be without Ben Simmons who continues to show zero interest in representing the senior national team which coincides with his general apathy towards playing basketball since the 2021 NBA playoffs. Australia will have Patty Mills, Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, Dante Exum, Duop Reath, Jock Landale, Dyson Daniels, and Josh Green on their roster. Former Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Matthew Dellavedova will featur as well as fellow NBL stars Jack McVeigh and Will Magnay.
Group B
Victor Wembanyama and France are expected to prevail from Group B. Their ability to medal and potentially achieve gold will come down to their guard play, where they tend to be dependent on the geriatric duo of Evan Fournier and Nano De Colo.
Germany will likely take second in this group on the back of brothers Franz and Mo Wagner, as well as Dennis Schroder. The Germans are the reigning world champions, having won the 2023 FIBA World Cup over Serbia.
While Brazil’s golden days under Leandro Barbosa are gone they remain a feisty FIBA opponent with plenty of talent plying their trade in Europe’s and South America’s top leagues. At last year’s World Cup, they got a shock win over Canada.
Japan will put up a fight with Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe but it’s unlikely they have the firepower to prevail from this group.
Group C
If anyone but Serbia and the United States finishes in the top two of Group C it will be the story of the Olympics. Serbia will have reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic leading the way, flanked by Vasilije Micic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and a surplus of high-level overseas professionals.
Team USA is, well, Team USA. They have some names you might recognize such as LeBron James, Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, and Anthony Edwards to name a few.
South Sudan and Puerto Rico are nice stories, led by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Jose Alvarado respectively, but it’s unlikely they finish in either of the top-two spots.
Olympic basketball action will get underway on Saturday, July 27 with Australia taking on Spain. Eight teams will advance to the quarterfinals – the top two from the three groups and two best third-placed teams — which will begin on Aug. 6. The medal games will be played on August 10. Team USA will play their first game on Sunday, July 28, against Serbia. FanSided will have all the coverage you need for the 2024 Paris Olympics.