2024 Paris Olympics: Basketball Groups Revealed
The 2024 Paris Olympics will be beginning in a little over four months, and the 12-team basketball groups were revealed Tuesday. It will be split into three groups–Group A, B and C–with four teams apiece. Each team will play just one game against every group opponent with the top two teams advancing to the quarterfinal round.
Let’s quickly dive into each group:
Group A:
- Australia
- Canada
- Winner of Spain, Poland, Finland, Lebanon, Angola, Bahamas
- Winner of Slovenia, Greece, Dominican Republic, Croatia, Europe
This will be a competitive group. Between Australia (Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Josh Giddey) and Canada (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, R.J. Barrett, Dillon Brooks) alone, they will have plenty of NBA talent. Conventional wisdom suggests that Spain–the No. 2 team in the world–and either one of Slovenia/Greece (Luka Doncic vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo?!?) advance. If I’m picking any team to advance, it’s Canada and Spain (if they make it), but this should be a very exciting group no matter how you slice the pie.
Group B:
- Germany
- France
- Japan
- Winner of Latvia, Brazil, Montenegro, Georgia, Philippines, Cameroon
Germany, the No. 3-ranked team led by Orlando’s Franz Wagner, won last year’s 2023 FIBA World Cup. Though they have not finished beyond the top-7 in the Olympics. France was very disappointing in the World Cup, but have a very good head coach in Vincent Collet and expect to have Victor Wembanyama alongside Rudy Gobert. Latvia, the No. 6 team in the world who finished No. 5 in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, could qualify for the first time ever; Japan, led by Yuta Watanabe and Keisei Tominaga, could also be a sneaky threat.
Group C:
- USA
- Serbia
- South Sudan
- Winner of Lithuania, Italy, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Ivory Coast, Bahrain
We don’t need to go into Team USA’s roster; Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum are already considered “locks” to make the team, barring injury (Embiid’s already dealing with a torn meniscus). Serbia will likely have two-time MVP Nikola Jokic–plus Nikola Jovic and Bogdan Bogdanovic–which makes them a difficult out. The fight for the last spot will be fascinating to track–with Lithuania, Italy and Puerto Rico all ranking in the top-16 globally. But I expect USA and Serbia to make it out of the group if I had to make any bets right now.
The remainder of the qualifying games will be from July 2-7, so obviously the field is not set yet. Nevertheless, this should be an electric competition that will have plenty of star power attached to it. What do you think about Team USA’s draw? Let us know in the comments!
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