| Date | 17 September – 1 October 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Sydney SuperDome, Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales / The Dome and Exhibition Complex, Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales | |
| Participants | 144 from 12 countries | |
| Format | Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches. | |
In 1998, Yugoslavia won the World Championship, with the United States finishing third. Although it would appear that the rest of the world had caught up to the USA in men’s basketball, the USA team at the Athens Worlds consisted of lesser-known pros. The US again chose an NBA All-Star team to represent them in Sydney and it was expected that they would again win easily. Among European teams, there was no consensus favorite to overtake the Americans. At the 1998 Worlds, Russia had won the silver medal, while the podiums had been mounted at the 1997 Europeans by Yugoslavia, Italy and Russia, but in 1999, Italy won the European Championship, with Spain second, and Yugoslavia third. Lithuania had finished no better than fifth at those preliminary international contests.
The US opened the Sydney tournament with two easy wins over China and Italy. But then they faced Lithuania and won by only 85-76. However, the US was undefeated in Group A and went to the quarter-finals, where they handily defeated Russia, 85-70. The semi-finals saw a re-match against Lithuania, and the myth of American basketball dominance would finally end – probably forever.
Lithuania did not win. But with 1:36 left in the game, former University of Maryland player Šarūnas Jasikevičius sank two free throws to give Lithuania an 80-79 lead. The USA responded and pulled ahead 84-81. But Jasikevičius sank a short jump shot with a bit over 9 seconds left, to cut the lead to one point. Lithuania fouled Jason Kidd, who hit one free throw but missed the second. Jasikevičius then came downcourt and launched a 22-foot 3-point attempt, going for the win. It missed, and the USA won, 85-83.
In the final, the US took an early lead against France. But midway thru the second half, France also laughed in the face of American hoops dominance, and cut the lead to four points with just over four minutes. The American team responded, however, and won 85-75, finishing the tournament undefeated and winning another gold medal. But things were no longer the same in international basketball.
| Date | 17 – 25 September 2000 |
|---|
| Date | 17 – 25 September 2000 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | USA | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 505-359 | ||
| 2 | Italy | ITA | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 332-349 | ||
| 3 | Lithuania | LTU | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 372-339 | ||
| 4 | France | FRA | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 372-374 | ||
| 5 | People's Republic of China | CHN | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 368-419 | ||
| 6 | New Zealand | NZL | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 307-416 |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 17 Sep 11:30 | The Dome | Italy | ITA | 50 – 48 | Lithuania | LTU | |
| Match #2 | 17 Sep 9:30 | The Dome | France | FRA | 76 – 50 | New Zealand | NZL | |
| Match #3 | 17 Sep 21:30 | The Dome | United States | USA | 119 – 72 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match #4 | 19 Sep 11:30 | The Dome | People's Republic of China | CHN | 75 – 60 | New Zealand | NZL | |
| Match #5 | 19 Sep 16:30 | The Dome | United States | USA | 93 – 61 | Italy | ITA | |
| Match #6 | 19 Sep 19:30 | The Dome | Lithuania | LTU | 81 – 63 | France | FRA | |
| Match #7 | 21 Sep 9:30 | The Dome | Italy | ITA | 78 – 66 | New Zealand | NZL | |
| Match #8 | 21 Sep 14:30 | The Dome | France | FRA | 82 – 70 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match #9 | 21 Sep 16:30 | The Dome | United States | USA | 85 – 76 | Lithuania | LTU | |
| Match #10 | 23 Sep 9:30 | The Dome | Lithuania | LTU | 82 – 66 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match #11 | 23 Sep 19:30 | The Dome | United States | USA | 102 – 56 | New Zealand | NZL | |
| Match #12 | 23 Sep 21:30 | The Dome | Italy | ITA | 67 – 57 | France | FRA | |
| Match #13 | 25 Sep 11:30 | The Dome | Lithuania | LTU | 85 – 75 | New Zealand | NZL | |
| Match #14 | 25 Sep 14:30 | The Dome | People's Republic of China | CHN | 85 – 76 | Italy | ITA | |
| Match #15 | 25 Sep 16:30 | The Dome | United States | USA | 106 – 94 | France | FRA |
| Date | 17 – 25 September 2000 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada | CAN | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 433-373 | ||
| 2 | Yugoslavia | SCG | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 372-338 | ||
| 3 | Australia | AUS | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 408-407 | ||
| 4 | Russian Federation | RUS | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 367-328 | ||
| 5 | Spain | ESP | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 349-376 | ||
| 6 | Angola | ANG | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 303-410 |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 17 Sep 14:30 | The Dome | Yugoslavia | SCG | 66 – 60 | Russian Federation | RUS | |
| Match #2 | 17 Sep 16:30 | The Dome | Canada | CAN | 101 – 90 | Australia | AUS | |
| Match #3 | 17 Sep 19:30 | The Dome | Spain | ESP | 64 – 45 | Angola | ANG | |
| Match #4 | 19 Sep 9:30 | The Dome | Canada | CAN | 99 – 54 | Angola | ANG | |
| Match #5 | 19 Sep 14:30 | The Dome | Russian Federation | RUS | 71 – 63 | Spain | ESP | |
| Match #6 | 19 Sep 21:30 | The Dome | Yugoslavia | SCG | 80 – 66 | Australia | AUS | |
| Match #7 | 21 Sep 11:30 | The Dome | Canada | CAN | 91 – 77 | Spain | ESP | |
| Match #8 | 21 Sep 19:30 | The Dome | Yugoslavia | SCG | 73 – 64 | Angola | ANG | |
| Match #9 | 21 Sep 21:30 | The Dome | Australia | AUS | 75 – 71 | Russian Federation | RUS | |
| Match #10 | 23 Sep 11:30 | The Dome | Yugoslavia | SCG | 78 – 65 | Spain | ESP | |
| Match #11 | 23 Sep 14:30 | The Dome | Russian Federation | RUS | 77 – 59 | Canada | CAN | |
| Match #12 | 23 Sep 16:30 | The Dome | Australia | AUS | 86 – 75 | Angola | ANG | |
| Match #13 | 25 Sep 9:30 | The Dome | Russian Federation | RUS | 88 – 65 | Angola | ANG | |
| Match #14 | 25 Sep 19:30 | The Dome | Canada | CAN | 83 – 75 | Yugoslavia | SCG | |
| Match #15 | 25 Sep 21:30 | The Dome | Australia | AUS | 91 – 80 | Spain | ESP |
| Date | 28 September 2000 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 28 Sep 15:00 | Australia | AUS | 65 – 62 | Italy | ITA | |
| Match #2 | 28 Sep 17:00 | France | FRA | 68 – 63 | Canada | CAN | |
| Match #3 | 28 Sep 20:00 | Lithuania | LTU | 76 – 63 | Yugoslavia | SCG | |
| Match #4 | 28 Sep 22:00 | United States | USA | 85 – 70 | Russian Federation | RUS |
| Date | 29 September 2000 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 29 Sep 19:30 | France | FRA | 76 – 52 | Australia | AUS | |
| Match #2 | 29 Sep 21:30 | United States | USA | 85 – 83 | Lithuania | LTU |
| Date | 26 September – 1 October 2000 |
|---|---|
| Format | Medal round. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/2 | 01 Oct 13:00 | United States | USA | 85 – 75 | France | FRA | |
| Match 3/4 | 01 Oct 11:00 | Lithuania | LTU | 89 – 71 | Australia | AUS | |
| Match 5/6 | 30 Sep 14:00 | Italy | ITA | 69 – 59 | Yugoslavia | SCG | |
| Match 7/8 | 30 Sep 12:00 | Canada | CAN | 86 – 83 | Russian Federation | RUS | AET |
| Match 9/10 | 26 Sep 16:30 | Spain | ESP | 84 – 64 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match 11/12 | 26 Sep 14:30 | New Zealand | NZL | 70 – 60 | Angola | ANG |