Basketball at the 1996 Summer Olympics

14th Olympic Basketball Tournament
Atlanta 1996
Tournament details
Olympics	1996 Summer Olympics
Host nation	United States
City	Atlanta
Duration	July 20 – August 4
Men's tournament
Teams	12
Medals Gold medalists  United States Silver medalists  Yugoslavia Bronze medalists  Lithuania
Women's tournament
Teams	12
Medals Gold medalists  United States Silver medalists  Brazil Bronze medalists  Australia
Tournaments
← Barcelona 1992  Sydney 2000 →

Basketball contests at the 1996 Olympic Games were held from July 20, 1996 to August 4, 1996. Games took place in the Morehouse College Gymnasium and in the Georgia Dome. For the second straight Olympic games, the American men's team composed almost completely of NBA players won the gold medal.

This was also the last Olympics before the founding of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the United States, and it has been the only Summer Olympics to take place in a city with an NBA team – since the International Olympic Committee started allowing these professional players to compete – because Atlanta is the home of the Atlanta Hawks team. The Summer Olympics have never returned to the United States or to Canada (Toronto) since then.

Medalists

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men's	United States (USA) Charles Barkley Penny Hardaway Grant Hill Hakeem Olajuwon Karl Malone Reggie Miller Shaquille O'Neal Gary Payton Scottie Pippen Mitch Richmond David Robinson John Stockton	Yugoslavia (YUG) Dejan Tomašević Miroslav Berić Dejan Bodiroga Željko Rebrača Predrag Danilović Vlade Divac Aleksandar Đorđević Saša Obradović Žarko Paspalj Zoran Savić Nikola Lončar Milenko Topić	Lithuania (LTU) Arvydas Sabonis Rimas Kurtinaitis Darius Lukminas Saulius Štombergas Eurelijus Žukauskas Šarūnas Marčiulionis Mindaugas Žukauskas Gintaras Einikis Andrius Jurkūnas Artūras Karnišovas Rytis Vaišvila Tomas Pačėsas
Women's	United States (USA) Teresa Edwards Dawn Staley Ruthie Bolton Sheryl Swoopes Jennifer Azzi Lisa Leslie Carla McGhee Katy Steding Katrina Felicia McClain Rebecca Lobo Venus Lacy Nikki McCray	Brazil (BRA) Hortência Marcari Oliva Maria Angelica Adriana Aparecida Santos Leila Sobral Maria Paula Silva Janeth Arcain Roseli Gustavo Marta Sobral Silvinha Alessandra Santos de Oliveira Cintia Santos Claudia Maria Pastor	Australia (AUS) Robyn Maher Allison Cook Sandy Brondello Michele Timms Shelley Sandie Trisha Fallon Michelle Chandler Fiona Robinson Carla Boyd Jenny Whittle Rachael Sporn Michelle Brogan

With the U.S. winning the gold medal, Scottie Pippen would become the first person to win NBA championship and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice, having played for Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.^[1] He had played for the Bulls in 1992 and later that year, for the "Dream Team" at the Barcelona Olympics.

Qualification

An NOC may enter up to one men's team with 12 players and up to one women's team with 12 players. 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 from the Americas, the runner-up from Asia and the second through fourth places from the Europe tournament. For the women's tournament, the extra teams consisted of the runner-up from the Americas, in addition to the second and third places from Asia and Europe.

Men

Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania	Automatic qualifiers
Angola	Puerto Rico  Argentina  Brazil	China  South Korea	Yugoslavia  Lithuania  Croatia  Greece	Australia	United States – World champions and Olympic hosts

Women

Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania	Automatic qualifiers
Zaire	Canada  Cuba	China  South Korea  Japan	Ukraine  Italy  Russia	Australia	Brazil – World champions  United States – Olympic hosts

Format

• Twelve teams are split into two preliminary round groups of six teams each.
• The top four teams from both groups qualify for the knockout stage.
• Fifth and sixth places from each group form an additional bracket to decide 9th–12th places in the final ranking.
• In the quarterfinals, the matchups are as follows: A1 vs. B4, A2 vs. B3, A3 vs. B2 and A4 vs. B1.
  • The four eliminated from the quarterfinals form an additional bracket to decide 5th–8th places in the final ranking.
• The winning teams from the quarterfinals meet in the semifinals as follows: A1/B4 vs. A3/B2 and A2/B3 vs. A4/B1.
• The winning teams from the semifinals contest the gold medal. The losing teams contest the bronze.

Tie-breaking criteria:

1. Head to head results
2. Goal average (not the goal difference) between the tied teams
3. Goal average of the tied teams for all teams in its group

Teams

Men

The men's event involved twelve teams split equally into two groups.

Women

The women's event involved 12 teams split in two groups.

Men's tournament

Preliminary round

The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Group A

Qualified for the quarterfinals

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Tie
United States	5	0	522	345	+177	10
Lithuania	3	2	427	354	+73	8	1W–0L
Croatia	3	2	422	386	+36	8	0W–1L
China	2	3	360	502	−142	7	1W–0L
Argentina	2	3	351	396	−45	7	0W–1L
Angola	0	5	280	379	−99	5

Group B

Qualified for the quarterfinals

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Yugoslavia	5	0	478	364	+114	10
Australia	4	1	492	438	+54	9
Greece	3	2	402	416	−14	8
Brazil	2	3	498	494	+4	7
Puerto Rico	1	4	447	465	−18	6
South Korea	0	5	422	562	−140	5

Knockout stage

Championship bracket

Quarterfinals (July 30)

Semifinals (August 1)

Gold medal (August 3)

B1

Yugoslavia

128

A4

China

61

B1

Yugoslavia

66

A2

Lithuania

58

A2

Lithuania

99

B3

Greece

66

B1

Yugoslavia

69

A1

United States

95

B2

Australia

73

A3

Croatia

71

B2

Australia

73

Bronze medal (August 3)

A1

United States

101

A1

United States

98

A2

Lithuania

80

B4

Brazil

75

B2

Australia

74

Classification brackets

9th–12th Place

	July 30					9th place (August 3)
	B6	South Korea	79
	A5	Argentina	97
						A5	Argentina	87
						B5	Puerto Rico	77
	A6	Angola	67
	B5	Puerto Rico	76			11th place (August 3)
						B6	South Korea	61
						A6	Angola	99

5th–8th Place

	August 1					5th place (August 3)
	A4	China	75
	B3	Greece	115
						B4	Brazil	72
						B3	Greece	91
	B4	Brazil	78
	A3	Croatia	70			7th place (August 3)
						A3	Croatia	99
						A4	China	85

Women's tournament

Preliminary round

The four best teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Group A

Qualified for the quarterfinals

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Brazil	5	0	424	360	+64	10
Russia	4	1	378	342	+36	9
Italy	3	2	330	309	+21	8
Japan	2	3	365	396	−31	7
China	1	4	347	378	−31	6
Canada	0	5	293	352	−59	5

Group B

Qualified for the quarterfinals

Team	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Tie
United States	5	0	507	339	+168	10
Ukraine	3	2	354	358	−4	8	1W–0L
Australia	3	2	369	319	+50	8	0W–1L
Cuba	2	3	365	377	−12	7	1W–0L
South Korea	2	3	347	389	−42	7	0W–1L
Zaire	0	5	287	447	−160	5

Knockout stage

Championship bracket

Quarterfinals (July 31)

Semifinals (August 2)

Gold medal (August 4)

B1

Brazil

101

A4

Cuba

69

B1

Brazil

81

A2

Ukraine

60

A2

Ukraine

59

B3

Italy

50

B1

Brazil

87

A1

United States

111

B2

Russia

70

A3

Australia

74

A3

Australia

71

Bronze medal (August 4)

A1

United States

93

A1

United States

108

A2

Ukraine

56

B4

Japan

93

A3

Australia

66

Classification brackets

9th–12th Place

	July 31					9th place (August 3)
	B6	Zaire	67
	A5	China	91
						A5	China	85
						B5	South Korea	71
	A6	Canada	79
	B5	South Korea	88			11th place (August 3)
						B6	Zaire	46
						A6	Canada	88

5th–8th Place

	August 1					5th place (August 3)
	A4	Japan	69
	A2	Russia	80
						B4	Cuba	74
						A2	Russia	91
	B4	Cuba	78
	A3	Italy	70			7th place (August 3)
						A3	Italy	69
						A4	Japan	81

Final standings

Rank	Men				Women
	Team	Pld	W	L	Team	Pld	W	L
01 !	United States	8	8	0	United States	8	8	0
02 !	Yugoslavia	8	7	1	Brazil	8	7	1
03 !	Lithuania	8	5	3	Australia	8	5	3
4th	Australia	8	5	3	Ukraine	8	4	4
Eliminated at the quarterfinals
5th	Greece	8	5	3	Russia	8	6	2
6th	Brazil	8	3	5	Cuba	8	3	5
7th	Croatia	8	4	4	Japan	8	3	5
8th	China	8	2	6	Italy	8	3	5
Preliminary round 5th placers
9th	Argentina	7	4	3	China	7	3	4
10th	Puerto Rico	7	2	5	South Korea	7	3	4
Preliminary round 6th placers
11th	Angola	7	1	6	Canada	7	1	6
12th	South Korea	7	0	7	Zaire	7	0	7

References

• 1996 Olympic Games: Tournament for Men, FIBA Archive. Accessed June 25, 2011.
• 1996 Olympic Games: Tournament for Women, FIBA Archive. Accessed June 25, 2011.