| Date | 17 – 30 September 1988 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Jam-sil Che-yuk-gwan, Seoul Sports Complex, Seoul | |
| Participants | 143 from 12 countries | |
| Format | Round-robin pools advance teams to classification matches. | |
And finally US Olympic basketball dominance came to a non-controversial end. The US and the Soviet Union had not met at the Olympics since the 1972 final game. But at Seoul, they played in the semi-finals, the USSR winning 82-76. On paper, the US had a formidable line-up, led by future NBA stars David Robinson, Danny Manning, Dan Majerle, and Mitch Richmond. But they shot poorly in Seoul and their offense sputtered throughout the tournament.
In the final game, the Soviets defeated Yugoslavia fairly comfortable, 76-63. The Soviet team was led by a trio of Lithuanians who would also later play in the NBA – Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Arvydas Sabonis, and Rimas Kurtinaitis.
Brazil was led by their prolific scorer, Oscar Schmidt, called simply Oscar. He led all scorers in Seoul, averaging over 42 points per game, and had 55 in one loss to Spain.
| Date | 17 – 24 September 1988 |
|---|
| Date | 18 – 24 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 468-384 | ||
| 2 | Soviet Union | URS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 460-393 | ||
| 3 | Australia | AUS | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 429-408 | ||
| 4 | Puerto Rico | PUR | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 382-387 | ||
| 5 | Central African Republic | CAF | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 346-436 | ||
| 6 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 384-461 |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 18 Sep 9:45 | Australia | AUS | 81 – 77 | Puerto Rico | PUR | |
| Match #2 | 18 Sep 19:30 | Central African Republic | CAF | 73 – 70 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match #3 | 18 Sep 21:30 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 92 – 79 | Soviet Union | URS | |
| Match #4 | 20 Sep 14:30 | Puerto Rico | PUR | 79 – 74 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match #5 | 20 Sep 19:30 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 102 – 61 | Central African Republic | CAF | |
| Match #6 | 20 Sep 21:30 | Soviet Union | URS | 91 – 69 | Australia | AUS | |
| Match #7 | 21 Sep 16:30 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 104 – 92 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match #8 | 21 Sep 19:30 | Soviet Union | URS | 93 – 81 | Puerto Rico | PUR | AET |
| Match #9 | 21 Sep 21:30 | Australia | AUS | 106 – 67 | Central African Republic | CAF | |
| Match #10 | 23 Sep 16:30 | Puerto Rico | PUR | 71 – 67 | Central African Republic | CAF | |
| Match #11 | 23 Sep 19:30 | Soviet Union | URS | 110 – 73 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match #12 | 23 Sep 21:30 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 98 – 78 | Australia | AUS | |
| Match #13 | 24 Sep 16:30 | Australia | AUS | 95 – 75 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match #14 | 24 Sep 19:30 | Soviet Union | URS | 87 – 78 | Central African Republic | CAF | |
| Match #15 | 24 Sep 21:30 | Puerto Rico | PUR | 74 – 72 | Yugoslavia | YUG |
| Date | 17 – 24 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | USA | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 485-302 | ||
| 2 | Spain | ESP | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 484-435 | ||
| 3 | Brazil | BRA | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 590-522 | ||
| 4 | Canada | CAN | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 479-455 | ||
| 5 | People's Republic of China | CHN | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 433-527 | ||
| 6 | Egypt | EGY | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 338-568 |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 17 Sep 19:30 | People's Republic of China | CHN | 98 – 84 | Egypt | EGY | |
| Match #2 | 17 Sep 21:30 | Brazil | BRA | 125 – 109 | Canada | CAN | |
| Match #3 | 18 Sep 11:45 | United States | USA | 97 – 53 | Spain | ESP | |
| Match #4 | 20 Sep 9:45 | Brazil | BRA | 130 – 108 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match #5 | 20 Sep 11:45 | United States | USA | 76 – 70 | Canada | CAN | |
| Match #6 | 20 Sep 16:30 | Spain | ESP | 113 – 70 | Egypt | EGY | |
| Match #7 | 21 Sep 9:45 | United States | USA | 102 – 87 | Brazil | BRA | |
| Match #8 | 21 Sep 11:45 | Canada | CAN | 117 – 64 | Egypt | EGY | |
| Match #9 | 21 Sep 14:30 | Spain | ESP | 106 – 74 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match #10 | 23 Sep 9:45 | Spain | ESP | 94 – 84 | Canada | CAN | |
| Match #11 | 23 Sep 11:45 | Brazil | BRA | 138 – 85 | Egypt | EGY | |
| Match #12 | 23 Sep 14:30 | United States | USA | 108 – 57 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match #13 | 24 Sep 9:45 | Canada | CAN | 99 – 96 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match #14 | 24 Sep 11:45 | United States | USA | 102 – 35 | Egypt | EGY | |
| Match #15 | 24 Sep 14:30 | Spain | ESP | 118 – 110 | Brazil | BRA |
| Date | 26 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| Format | Classification matches. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 26 Sep 9:45 | Central African Republic | CAF | 63 – 57 | Egypt | EGY | |
| Match #2 | 26 Sep 14:30 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 93 – 90 | People's Republic of China | CHN |
| Date | 28 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| Format | Classification matches. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 28 Sep 9:45 | Brazil | BRA | 104 – 86 | Puerto Rico | PUR | |
| Match #2 | 28 Sep 14:30 | Canada | CAN | 96 – 91 | Spain | ESP |
| Date | 26 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 26 Sep 11:45 | United States | USA | 94 – 57 | Puerto Rico | PUR | |
| Match #2 | 26 Sep 16:30 | Australia | AUS | 77 – 74 | Spain | ESP | |
| Match #3 | 26 Sep 19:30 | Soviet Union | URS | 110 – 105 | Brazil | BRA | |
| Match #4 | 26 Sep 21:30 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 95 – 73 | Canada | CAN |
| Date | 28 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 28 Sep 12:00 | Soviet Union | URS | 82 – 76 | United States | USA | |
| Match #2 | 28 Sep 16:30 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 91 – 70 | Australia | AUS |
| Date | 29 – 30 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| Format | Medal round. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/2 | 30 Sep 12:00 | Soviet Union | URS | 76 – 63 | Yugoslavia | YUG | |
| Match 3/4 | 29 Sep 21:30 | United States | USA | 78 – 49 | Australia | AUS | |
| Match 5/6 | 30 Sep 9:45 | Brazil | BRA | 106 – 90 | Canada | CAN | |
| Match 7/8 | 29 Sep 19:30 | Puerto Rico | PUR | 93 – 92 | Spain | ESP | |
| Match 9/10 | 29 Sep 16:30 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 89 – 81 | Central African Republic | CAF | |
| Match 11/12 | 29 Sep 14:30 | People's Republic of China | CHN | 97 – 75 | Egypt | EGY |