| Date | 25 July – 7 August 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Saitama Super Arena, Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan | |
| Participants | 143 from 12 countries | |
| Format | Round-robin pools advance teams to classification matches. | |
All the games took place at Saitama Super Arena. There was a minor change in the format, as the last several Olympics had two groups of 6 teams each, with eight teams advancing to a knockout stage. In Tokyo the groups were changed into three groups of 4 teams each, again with eight teams entering the single elimination phase.
The United States had won gold in 2008, 2012, and 2016 but seemed more vulnerable in 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic had forced the NBA season to start later and finish only the week before the Olympics. With that late finish many of the best American players elected not to compete at the Olympics. In addition, in pre-Olympic games, both Nigeria and Australia defeated the USA men, and the United States’ Olympic dominance seemed in danger.
One other change was that long-time Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who had coached the United States’ team at the last three Olympics, had stepped down, with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich now in charge. It was likely a minor change as Popovich was one of the greatest coaches in NBA annals.
Once in Tokyo, France defeated the United States in the first group match, 83-76, further inflaming their critics. France went on to win Group A, while the USA finished second but still advanced to the knockout rounds. The other groups were won by Australia and Slovenia, which was led by 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year Luka Dončić, who scored 48 points again Argentina in their group match-up.
Sparked by Kevin Durant, who would win his third gold medal, the USA won their quarter-final over Spain, 95-81 and then beat Australia quite comfortably in the semi-finals, seemingly getting stronger with each game. In the other half of the bracket, France defeated Italy and then Slovenia to earn a re-match with the Americans. The final was relatively close, but the United States was in charge the entire second half and finally won gold by 87-82. Australia defeated Slovenia, 107-93, to take the bronze medal, giving the Aussies their first Olympic medal in men’s basketball after four fourth-place finishes (1988, 1996, 2000, 2016).
| Date | 25 July – 1 August 2021 |
|---|
| Date | 25 – 31 July 2021 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | FRA | 3 | 0 | 6 | 259-215 | ||
| 2 | United States | USA | 2 | 1 | 4 | 315-233 | ||
| 3 | Czech Republic | CZE | 1 | 2 | 2 | 245-294 | ||
| 4 | Islamic Republic of Iran | IRI | 0 | 3 | 0 | 206-283 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 25 Jul 10:00 | Czech Republic 1 | CZE | 84 – 78 | Islamic Republic of Iran 2 | IRI | |
| Match #2 | 25 Jul 21:00 | France 3 | FRA | 83 – 76 | United States 4 | USA | |
| Match #3 | 28 Jul 13:40 | United States 5 | USA | 120 – 66 | Islamic Republic of Iran 6 | IRI | |
| Match #4 | 28 Jul 21:00 | France 7 | FRA | 97 – 77 | Czech Republic 8 | CZE | |
| Match #5 | 31 Jul 10:00 | France 9 | FRA | 79 – 62 | Islamic Republic of Iran 10 | IRI | |
| Match #6 | 31 Jul 21:00 | United States 11 | USA | 119 – 84 | Czech Republic 12 | CZE |
| Date | 25 – 31 July 2021 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | AUS | 3 | 0 | 6 | 259-226 | ||
| 2 | Italy | ITA | 2 | 1 | 4 | 255-239 | ||
| 3 | Germany | GER | 1 | 2 | 2 | 257-273 | ||
| 4 | Nigeria | NGR | 0 | 3 | 0 | 230-263 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 25 Jul 13:40 | Italy 13 | ITA | 92 – 82 | Germany 14 | GER | |
| Match #2 | 25 Jul 17:20 | Australia 15 | AUS | 84 – 67 | Nigeria 16 | NGR | |
| Match #3 | 28 Jul 10:00 | Germany 17 | GER | 99 – 92 | Nigeria 18 | NGR | |
| Match #4 | 28 Jul 17:20 | Australia 19 | AUS | 86 – 83 | Italy 20 | ITA | |
| Match #5 | 31 Jul 13:40 | Italy 21 | ITA | 80 – 71 | Nigeria 22 | NGR | |
| Match #6 | 31 Jul 17:20 | Australia 23 | AUS | 89 – 76 | Germany 24 | GER |
| Date | 26 July – 1 August 2021 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slovenia | SLO | 3 | 0 | 6 | 329-268 | ||
| 2 | Spain | ESP | 2 | 1 | 4 | 256-243 | ||
| 3 | Argentina | ARG | 1 | 2 | 2 | 268-276 | ||
| 4 | Japan | JPN | 0 | 3 | 0 | 235-301 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 26 Jul 13:40 | Slovenia 25 | SLO | 118 – 100 | Argentina 26 | ARG | |
| Match #2 | 26 Jul 21:00 | Spain | ESP | 88 – 77 | Japan 27 | JPN | |
| Match #3 | 29 Jul 13:40 | Slovenia 28 | SLO | 116 – 81 | Japan 29 | JPN | |
| Match #4 | 29 Jul 21:00 | Spain 30 | ESP | 81 – 71 | Argentina 31 | ARG | |
| Match #5 | 01 Aug 13:40 | Argentina 32 | ARG | 97 – 77 | Japan 33 | JPN | |
| Match #6 | 01 Aug 17:40 | Slovenia 34 | SLO | 95 – 87 | Spain 35 | ESP |
| Date | 3 August 2021 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winner of each match advanced to the semi-finals. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 03 Aug 10:00 | Slovenia 36 | SLO | 94 – 70 | Germany 37 | GER | |
| Match #2 | 03 Aug 13:40 | United States 38 | USA | 95 – 81 | Spain 39 | ESP | |
| Match #3 | 03 Aug 17:20 | France 40 | FRA | 84 – 75 | Italy 41 | ITA | |
| Match #4 | 03 Aug 21:00 | Australia 42 | AUS | 97 – 59 | Argentina 43 | ARG |
| Date | 5 August 2021 — 13:15 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winner of each match advanced to the final round. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Aug 13:15 | United States 44 | USA | 97 – 78 | Australia 45 | AUS | |
| Match #2 | 05 Aug 20:00 | France 46 | FRA | 90 – 89 | Slovenia 47 | SLO |
| Date | 7 August 2021 — 11:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Medal round. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/2 | 07 Aug 11:30 | United States 48 | USA | 87 – 82 | France 49 | FRA | |
| Match 3/4 | 07 Aug 20:00 | Australia 50 | AUS | 107 – 93 | Slovenia 51 | SLO |