MIES (Switzerland) - The Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament has gone through an incredible development and witnessed some major shifts in hierarchy since its inaugural event - which started 90 years ago today.
The first Olympic games were played on August 7, 1936, in Berlin. Seeing Day 1 final scores such as 20-17 and 32-9 reminds one just how different the game was 90 years ago.
The first Olympics took place 45 years after the sport was invented by Dr James Naismith and just four years after the birth of FIBA. On that occasion, the father of the game was invited to perform the first jump ball in Olympic basketball and to present the medals.
The game was played outdoors on clay and did not have the tempo of today’s style, with teams scoring 40 or more points only eight times in that inaugural edition.
And Mother Nature did not play along to help offensive production either. The gold-medal showdown between the United States and Canada was played after a day of rain, with a downpour during the Final itself. Just eight points were scored in the second half as USA won 19-8 to grab the first basketball Olympic medal.
USA Dominance
Due to World War II, the globe had to wait until 1948 for the second Olympics tournament in London. And the Americans won the gold medal just like 12 years prior. USA actually dominated the event for decades - securing the first seven gold medals until 1968, and putting together a remarkable 63-game winning streak.
The level of the game around the world continued to grow with FIBA’s continuous work to push it across the globe. The Soviet Union grew into a European superpower, winning 10 of 11 FIBA EuroBasket titles and reaching the Olympics Final four times between 1951 and 1971.
The 1960s saw Yugoslavia emerge as another power in European basketball, falling in the EuroBasket Final four times in that stretch. Yugoslavia broke through in 1968 with the likes of Ivo Daneu, Radivoje Korac and Kresimir Cosic beating the Soviets in the Semi-Finals before losing to the USA for the silver medal.
Trio on equal footing
The seventies and eighties saw the trio of USA, Soviet Union and Yugoslavia perform on equal footing. The Americans claimed the gold in 1976 and then saw Yugoslavia win their first title at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. At Los Angeles 1984, USA beat Spain in the final while Yugoslavia claimed third place.
A turning point came in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics, where Soviet Union beat USA in the Semi-Finals and then downed Yugoslavia in the Gold Medal Game for their second and final Olympic tournament.
Around that time, the world saw the rise of international superstars, and now FIBA Hall of Famers, among them being all-time top scorer Oscar Schmidt of Brazil, Soviet/Lithuania star big man Arvydas Sabonis and Yugoslavia/Croatia marksman Drazen Petrovic. Players of that level decided against trying the NBA because that meant losing their eligibility for their national teams.
Landmark 1989 FIBA ruling
FIBA played a crucial role in changing the standing of the Olympics. On April 8, 1989, the FIBA World Congress decided to eliminate the distinction between amateurs and professionals, making all basketball players eligible for FIBA competitions.
The first Olympics after the ruling were the 1992 Barcelona Games, which will go down in history for featuring arguably the greatest team ever assembled: the Dream Team, including NBA superstars Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, among other legends.
The games in Barcelona transformed basketball, bringing in new fans around the world and making the game even more global. Youngsters everywhere were inspired to play basketball after getting a chance to see greats like Jordan and Magic on the Olympics stage.
The World closing the gap in the 2000’s
USA’s NBA-led team overwhelmed their opponents in 1992, and they won the 1996 and 2000 gold medals as well. But the level of play from the rest of the world improved more and more, as evidenced by more internationals playing in the NBA as well.
That, along with the USA’s complacency of constant winning, led to Argentina’s golden generation of Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and others defeating the Americans in the 2004 Semi-Finals before taking gold in Athens.
That USA loss, combined with fifth-placed and third-placed showings at the 2002 and 2006 FIBA Basketball World Cups, led USA Basketball to a more concerted effort to re-establish itself on the global stage
And that resulted in the “Redeem Team” for the 2008 Beijing Games.
The likes of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade reclaimed gold, and the Americans have taken the top step of the podium in the last four Olympics as well.
But the other countries are catching up - especially Europeans. Spain tested them in the Gold Medal Games in both 2008 and 2012. Serbia, France and Spain all gave the Americans challenges in 2016.
France actually beat the Americans in the group stage at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, ending their 25-game Olympics winning streak. USA would bounce back and collect the gold medal in Japan, but the rest of the world took notice.
Four years later, the Paris tournament broke attendance records and shattered previous marks for FIBA's social media platforms with more than 2.7 billion impressions and 72 million engagements. On top of that, the action on the court saw the participation of new countries such as the feel-good story of South Sudan.
The Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament has come a long, long way since 1936. And it is bound to take even further steps in the coming editions and beyond.
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About the FIBA Foundation
The FIBA Foundation is the social and legacy arm of FIBA that addresses the role of sports particularly basketball in society, preserving and promoting basketball’s values and its cultural heritage.
FIBA’s cultural heritage is the heart of the FIBA Foundation’s cultural and historical activities. It is one of the driving forces behind the promotion and dissemination of FIBA’s values.