Basketball contests at the 1996 Olympic Games was the fourteenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It held from July 20 to August 4, 1996. Games took place in the Morehouse College Gymnasium and in the Georgia Dome.

Medalists

Men's 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 Dejan Tomašević Miroslav Berić Dejan Bodiroga Željko Rebrača Predrag Danilović Vlade Divac Aleksandar Đorđević Saša Obradović Žarko Paspalj Zoran Savić Nikola Lončar Milenko Topić Arvydas Sabonis Rimas Kurtinaitis Darius Lukminas Saulius Štombergas Eurelijus Žukauskas Šarūnas Marčiulionis Mindaugas Žukauskas Gintaras Einikis Artūras Karnišovas Rytis Vaišvila Tomas PačėsasWomen's 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 Hortência Marcari Oliva Maria Angélica Gonçalves da Silva Adriana Aparecida Santos Leila Sobral Maria Paula Silva Janeth Arcain Roseli Gustavo Marta Sobral Silvia Luz Alessandra Santos de Oliveira Cintia Santos Claudia Maria Pastor 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. men's team winning the gold medal, Scottie Pippen would become the first person to win an NBA championship and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice, after having played for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals. He had previously played with the Bulls in the 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 FR Yugoslavia – World champions and Olympic hosts

Women

Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania Automatic qualifiers – World champions – 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: Head to head results Goal average (not the goal difference) between the tied teams Goal average of the tied teams for all teams in its group

Men's tournament

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

Group A Qualified for the quarterfinals

TeamWLPFPAPDPtsTie 5 0 522 345 +177 10 3 2 427 354 +73 8 1W–0L 3 2 422 386 +36 8 0W–1L 2 3 360 502 −142 7 1W–0L 2 3 351 396 −45 7 0W–1L 0 5 280 379 −99 5

Group B Qualified for the quarterfinals

TeamWLPFPAPDPts FR Yugoslavia 5 0 478 364 +114 10 4 1 492 438 +54 9 3 2 402 416 −14 8 2 3 498 494 +4 7 1 4 447 465 −18 6 0 5 422 562 −140 5

Knockout stage

Statistical leaders StatisticNameTotalPer game/Pct.Points Oscar Schmidt21927.4Rebounds Arvydas Sabonis8110.1Assists Toni Kukoč567Steals Grant Hill183Blocks3 tied73-point field goals Oscar Schmidt40.381Free throws Andrew Gaze52.839

Women's tournament

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

Group A Qualified for the quarterfinals

TeamWLPFPAPDPts 5 0 424 360 +64 10 4 1 378 342 +36 9 3 2 330 309 +21 8 2 3 365 396 −31 7 1 4 347 378 −31 6 0 5 293 352 −59 5

Group B Qualified for the quarterfinals

TeamWLPFPAPDPtsTie 5 0 507 339 +168 10 3 2 354 358 −4 8 1W–0L 3 2 369 319 +50 8 0W–1L 2 3 365 377 −12 7 1W–0L 2 3 347 389 −42 7 0W–1L 0 5 287 447 −160 5

Knockout stage

Statistical leaders StatisticNameTotalPer game/Pct.Points Yamilé Martínez16420.5Rebounds Elena Baranova10513.1Assists Teresa Edwards648Steals Ruthie Bolton232.9Blocks Elena Baranova192.43-point field goals Maria Paula Silva23.451Free throws Elena Baranova37.841

Final standings

Rank Men WomenTeam Pld W L Team Pld W L 8 8 0 8 8 0 FR Yugoslavia 8 7 1 8 7 1 8 5 3 8 5 3 4th 8 5 3 8 4 4Eliminated at the quarterfinals 5th 8 5 3 8 6 2 6th 8 3 5 8 3 5 7th 8 4 4 8 3 5 8th 8 2 6 8 3 5Preliminary round 5th placers 9th 7 4 3 7 3 4 10th 7 2 5 7 3 4Preliminary round 6th placers 11th 7 1 6 7 1 6 12th 7 0 7 7 0 7

References

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