Twelve teams are going for gold in Paris, France
Paris 2024 preview: Basketball takes center stage
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The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, is already underway. The first competitions began on Wednesday, ahead of the Opening Ceremony, which takes place on Friday, July 26.
Most of the events will be in the French capital, with some others scattered around the country. The surfing venue for Paris 2024 is Teahupo'o, Tahiti, more than 15,000 kilometers from the Eiffel Tower.
The Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament starts with a group stage in Lille, France, with a seating capacity of over 27,000 fans. The first stage features three groups, each with four teams.
Australia, Greece, Canada and Spain are featured in Group A. France hosts World Cup champion Germany, Japan and Brazil in Group B. USA starts to defend its Olympic gold medal in Group C against Serbia, South Sudan and Puerto Rico.
The best two teams in each group, along with the two highest-ranked third-place squads, advance to the quarterfinals. A draw will decide the quarterfinal pairings. The single-game quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be played at Accor Arena in Paris.
Rudy makes basketball history
Rudy Fernandez of Spain is taking part in a record sixth Olympics, where he will put an end to his legendary basketball career as one of the greatest winners ever.
The 39-year-old is currently tied with former Spanish national teammates Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro, Luis Scola of Argentina, Oscar Schmidt of Brazil, Andrew Gaze of Australia and Teofilo Cruz of Puerto Rico for the most appearances in the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament, with five apiece.
Fernandez has a chance to win his fourth Olympic medal, which is something that only Carmelo Anthony of the USA, as well as Gennadi Volnos and Sergei Belov of the former Soviet Union, did in the past.
Spain is seeking its fifth Olympic medal. Also in Group A, Australia got the bronze medal in Tokyo 2020 and is looking for its second. Canada has not won an Olympic medal since getting silver at Berlin 1936 and arrives in Paris with arguably its best team ever and a Spanish coach, Jordi Fernandez. Greece features 10 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and BKT EuroCup players, as well as Giannis Antetokounmpo and a EuroLeague legend as head coach, Vassilis Spanoulis.
France digs for gold at home
France looks for its first-ever gold medal with a dominant frontline led by former LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne big man Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, former EuroLeague star Nicolas Batum, two-time All-EuroLeague First team selection Mathias Lessort of Panathinaikos and EuroLeague champion Guerschon Yabusele of Real Madrid. This year's host nation won silver medals in London 1948, Sydney 2000 and Tokyo 2020, and hopes to climb one step higher.
Germany features 12 players with EuroLeague or EuroCup experience, led by Dennis Schroder, who will be his country's flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony, Franz Wagner and Johannes Voigtmann. After winning the World Cup, Germany hopes to get its first-ever Olympic medal.
Brazil grabbed respective bronze medals in 1948, 1960 and 1964, and hopes to be this tournament's Cinderella, led by Yago dos Santos and Bruno Caboclo. One of the few teams without EuroLeague players, Japan hopes to make history: its best finish in the tournament was ninth place in 1936.
USA has heavy-favorite pressure
USA leads Group C. Just like Rudy Fernandez, LeBron James and Kevin Durant can win their respective fourth Olympic medals. If things go well, Durant will become the only player ever with four Olympic golds. On the other hand, James already has a bronze medal with USA from Athens 2004 and could be the first player ever to not win a gold medal with Team USA in multiple Olympic games. The USA has won 16 gold medals in 19 Olympic appearances.
Serbia won a silver medal at Tokyo 2020 and five more medals as part of the former Yugoslavia, including gold at Moscow 1980. Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, two-time EuroLeague Final Four MVP Vasilije Micic and former EuroLeague champion Bogdan Bogdanovic lead an ambitious team ready to challenge any other team out there. Svetislav Pesic has a rare chance to add an Olympic gold medal to his EuroLeague crown with FC Barcelona in 2003. Only Alexander Gomelskiy won both competitions as head coach.
South Sudan almost beat USA barely a week ago. Wenyen Gabriel, who recently signed for Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, is ready to prove his value. Just like South Sudan, Puerto Rico looks for its first-ever Olympic medal. It will be Puerto Rico's 10th appearance in the tournament, and its first since Athens 2004. Its best finish was fourth place in Tokyo 1964.
The stage is ready for two crazy weeks of sports in general, and basketball in particular! We will be ready to tell you all about it right here on EuroLeague.net!
(Top photo: FIBA)