Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics was the seventeenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It was held from 9 August to 24 August 2008. Competitions were held at the Wukesong Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China.
Medalists
Medal count
Flag bearers
Basketball players that carried their flags at the opening ceremony were Yao Ming, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Dirk Nowitzki, Andrei Kirilenko, and Manu Ginóbili.Events
Two sets of medals were awarded in the following events: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.
The best teams from the continental championships that did not automatically qualify participated in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament or FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women to determine the final spots in Beijing.
Italicized teams qualified via the wildcard tournaments.
Basketball – Men
| Africa | Americas | Asia | Europe | Oceania | Automatic qualifiers |
' ' | – World champions – Olympic hosts |
Basketball – 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-placed teams from both groups are ranked 9th–10th by basis of their records.
- Sixth-placed teams from both groups are ranked 11th–12th by basis of their records.
- In the quarterfinals, the matchups are as follows: A1 vs. B4, A2 vs. B3, A3 vs. B2 and A4 vs. B1.
- * The eliminated teams at the quarterfinals are ranked 5th–8th by basis of their preliminary round records
- 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.
- Head to head results
- Goal average between the tied teams
- Goal average of the tied teams for all teams in its group
Calendar
| August | 9th S | 10th S | 11th M | 12th T | 13th W | 14th T | 15th F | 16th S | 17th S | 18th M | 19th T | 20th W | 21st T | 22nd F | 23rd S | 24th S | Gold medals |
| Men | M | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Women | M | 1 |