2024 Paris Olympics Men's Basketball Dates, Format, Teams, Schedule, rules, and more

The 2024 Paris Olympics are almost here and the likes of LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will all be trying to lead their countries to the gold medal this summer. Here's how the men's 5x5 basketball tournament at the Olympics will work.

When do the Olympics basketball games begin?

Men's 5x5 basketball will officially get underway on Saturday, July 27 with Australia facing Spain. They will be the first of four games that day, followed by Germany against Japan, France against Brazil, and Greece against Canada.

When does Team USA play?

Team USA will open play against Nikola Jokic and Serbia on Sunday, July 28. Their next game will come against South Sudan on Wednesday, July 31 and then Puerto Rico on Saturday, August 3.

What notable NBA players are participating?

A large swath of NBA players are participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Team USA will have LeBron James, Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Anthony Edwards, and Jayson Tatum among others. Serbia will have reigning MVP Nikola Jokic. Greece will have Giannis Antetokounmpo, Australia will have Josh Giddey, Canada will have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray, Japan will have Rui Hachimura, Spain will have Santi Aldama, and Germany will have brothers Franz and Mo Wagner.

What is the format of the Olympic basketball tournament?

12 countries qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics: France (hosts), Germany (2023 FIBA World Champions), Serbia, Canada, Team USA, Australia, South Sudan, and Japan all qualified based on their performance at the 2023 FIBA World Cup relative to their region. The final four spots went to winners of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournaments in early July: Greece, Spain, Brazil, and Puerto Rico.

These 12 countries have been split into three, four-team groups. Group A, which has been dubbed the group of death, features Australia, Spain, Canada, and Greece. All four of those countries have medal aspirations. Group B has France, Germany, Brazil, and Japan and Group C has Team USA, Serbia, Puerto Rico, and South Sudan.

The teams will face each other once in their group, a total of three games, from July 27 to August 4. The top two teams from each group advance to the first-round quarterfinal knockout stage as will the two best third-placed teams, determined by wins, point differential, and other relative measurements of group play competitiveness.

The quarterfinals will be played on Tuesday, August 6. The semifinals will be played on Thursday, August 8 and the medal games will be played on Saturday, August 10.

How will the knockout matchups be determined?

There will be a draw following the conclusion of group play to determine the knockout matchups. Teams who qualify will be placed in four pots. Pot D will have the two best group winners. Pot E will have the worst group winner and highest ranking second-place team. Pot F will have the other two second-placed teams, and Pot G will have the two third-placed group play teams who qualified.

Teams from the same group cannot face each other again in the quarterfinals. The two teams from Pot D (the two best group winners) are not permitted to face each other again until the medal games. Losing quarterfinal teams will not participate in any further games. Positions 5-8 will be determined based on performance in games played.