The men's tournament of basketball at the 1992 Olympics at Barcelona, Spain began on July 26 and ended on August 8.
This was the first time that NBA players were eligible to play in Summer Olympics basketball, following a decision of FIBA in April 1989. Until 1992, only amateurs and players from professional leagues other than the NBA were allowed to play.
The United States, which was nicknamed "The Dream Team", won the gold medal after defeating Croatia in the final, with Lithuania winning the bronze medal by beating the Unified Team.
Format The twelve teams were split into two groups of six teams, and a single round-robin was held within each group. The top four teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage for the medals and the fourth place in the final rankings. The four losing teams from the first round of the knockout stage played another knockout stage to determine fifth through eighth place in the final rankings, and the four teams eliminated in the group stage played in another knockout stage to determine ninth through twelfth place in the final rankings.
Ties were broken via the following the criteria: Head to head results
Squads
Schedule
Sun 26 Mon 27 Tue 28 Wed 29 Thu 30 Fri 31 Sat 1 Sun 2 Mon 3 Tue 4 Wed 5 Thu 6 Fri 7 Sat 8G G G G G ¼ ½ F B
Qualification Means of qualification Date Venue Berths Qualified Host nation 1 FIBA Africa Championship 1989 16–27 December 1989 Luanda 1 1991 ABC Championship (Asia) 22 August – 1 September 1991 Kobe 1 1991 FIBA Oceania Championship 1–7 June 1991 Wellington and Palmerston North 1 1992 pre-Olympic basketball tournament(Europe) 22 June – 5 July 1992 Bilbao, Granada, Murcia, Badajoz and Zaragoza 4 Unified Team 1992 Tournament of the Americas 27 June – 5 July 1992 Portland 4 Total 12
Preliminary round The top four places in each of the preliminary round groups advanced to the eight team, single-elimination knockout stage, where Group A teams would meet Group B teams.
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Quarterfinals
Classification round 9th−12th place Semifinals
11th place match
9th place match
Classification round 5th−8th place Semifinals
7th place match
5th place match
Semifinals
Bronze medal game
Gold medal game
Team details SG 4 Dražen Petrović C 14 Dino Rađa SF 7 Toni Kukoč C 9 Franjo Arapović SG 5 Velimir Perasović SG 13 Arijan Komazec PG 12 Alan Gregov PF 15 Aramis Naglić PG 8 Vladan Alanović C 10 Žan Tabak C 11 Stojko Vranković SG 6 Danko CvjetićaninHead Coach: Petar Skansi SG 9 Michael Jordan PF 14 Charles Barkley C 6 Patrick Ewing SF 8 Scottie Pippen PG 15 Magic Johnson SF 13 Chris Mullin SG 10 Clyde Drexler C 5 David Robinson PF 11 Karl Malone PF 4 Christian Laettner PG 12 John Stockton SF 7 Larry BirdHead Coach: Chuck Daly
Awards 1992 Olympic Basketball Champions United States Tenth title
Final standings Rankings are determined by classification games: Rank Team Pld W L PF PA PD 8 8 0938 558 +380 8 6 2 681656 +25 8 6 2753 725 +28 4th Unified Team 8 5 3 660606 +54Eliminated at the quarterfinals 5th 8 4 4692 741 -49 6th 8 4 4686 663 +23 7th 8 3 5620 710 -90 8th 8 3 5692 737 -45Eliminated at the preliminary round 9th 7 3 4571 632 -61 10th 7 2 5478 539 -61 11th 7 2 5573 619 -46 12th 7 0 7547 675 -128
Cultural depictions Team USA Basketball, video game The Other Dream Team, documentary about the Lithuanian team
References
Official Olympic Report