2024 Paris Olympics: Basketball Events preview, team news, tickets & prediction

The 2024 Olympics Basketball event promises to deliver iconic moments with several blockbuster fixtures already lined up in the group phase. 

The matches in this indoor event will take place from 27 July to 11 August 2024 and Team USA will face Serbia in their respective opening games.

This could turn out to be the most competitive Olympic tournament we have ever seen as the draws for the Olympic Basketball Tournaments in Paris 2024 set up some mouthwatering matchups for the men and women.

Eight of the 12 teams bound for Paris are already confirmed and the final four tickets will be handed out at the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments from 2-7 July 2024 in Spain, Latvia, Greece and Puerto Rico.

Group A has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a talented Canadian team alongside Tokyo 2020 bronze medalists, Australia. Luka Doncic and Slovenia (or maybe Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece) as well as Spain could be scheduled to join what looks like a fantastic group.

Group B has world champions Germany, tournament hosts France who have experience and the talent of Victor Wembanyama, and Japan who play fast, smart, play together and shoot a lot of threes while Brazil or the exciting Latvia could also complete the setup.

Elsewhere, two of the biggest basketball nations in the world - USA and Serbia - will hook horns in their opening game in Group C. The Americans are shooting for a fifth consecutive Olympics gold medal - and 17th Olympic title in total - and a star-studded team ready to show the world they mean business.

Team USA officially qualified for the Paris Games as one of the top two nations from the FIBA Americas zone at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Serbia reached the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup final and they are ranked fourth in the FIBA Men’s World Ranking. They were unfancied before the World Cup started but legendary head coach Svetislav Pesic implemented an effective team strategy with a very solid defensive pattern. 

South Sudan is a surprise package considering how they qualified as the African team with the highest finish at the World Cup. They are now expected to compete and there is such a high ceiling on their potential that they could at least make the Olympics quarter-finals.

In the women’s event, there is a very competitive feel to this year's Games as Group B shapes up into an extremely tough one with Australia (third on the FIBA World Ranking Women), Canada (fifth) and France (seventh) while Nigeria rounds out the group in 12th.

Group A is arguably just as competitive with China (second), Spain (fourth), Serbia (10th) and Puerto Rico (11th) all battling it out to advance to the knockouts. 

Group C sees a dominant USA lineup against a Belgium side that almost beat them at the qualifying tournament in Antwerp. There are also Japan and Germany who have improved their squad with the addition of the Sabally sisters.

Event tickets

The 2024 Olympic Games Basketball Events will be the number 1 indoor ticketed event in Paris. One must apply for Paris Olympics 2024 tickets on the official ticketing application to receive your tickets or put them back on sale.

Every group phase game will be played at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille with the final phase staged at the Accor Arena in Paris. There will be a spectacular atmosphere whenever the athletes take to the court and given the overwhelming demand for tickets for this game, it will be a sold-out arena so supporters must secure their tickets as soon as possible. 

Meanwhile, the 3x3 competitions will be played at Place de la Concorde.

To purchase Paris Olympics 2024 Basketball tickets and beat the long wait, fans can make their search on a ticket resale site.

Team news

Steve Kerr is back as the head coach of Team USA, despite leading them to a fourth-place finish at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. However, Kerr has much more talent heading to Paris.

Team USA is full of big hitters like LeBron James and Kevin Durant who wants to become the first player to win four gold medals in men’s basketball. There is also some new blood amongst the group with Joel Embiid and Kawhi Leonard set to make their USA Basketball national team debut in the opening USA Basketball Showcase against Canada on July 10.

Should Nikola Jokic make it to the Olympics, the Denver Nuggets superstar will aid Serbia’s options on how to play. Elsewhere, Bogdan Bogdanovic will be one of the leaders while the likes of Vasilije Micic, Marko Guduric, Aleksa Avramovic and Ognjen Dobric are also meaningful contributors.

Nikola Milutinov could also prove a crucial presence in the team as he was an unstoppable force at the FIBA World Cup.

Although the Serbia squad is yet to be confirmed at the time of writing, they should be able to call on big names like Jovic, Vladimir Lucic, Nikola Kalinic and Nemanja Nedovic.

Filip Petrusev and Dejan Davidovac are also great players who are a good fit for the team.

Canada head coach Jordi Fernandez has a wealth of NBA talent to select from as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is set to be the main man and he will be joined by the likes of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Lu Dort and RJ Barrett who all have lots of NBA experience. Kelly Olynyk will provide leadership while Jamal Murray has confirmed his participation.

Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert represent part of a resilient-looking France side who also have a lot of potential as tournament hosts.

Prediction

USA are favourites to win the gold medal but they will be up against more NBA talent spread across the other countries’ rosters than ever before. This means that they must work hard to earn each victory on that journey and fend off challengers from the likes of Serbia, Canada and France.

For the women, the USA, Belgium, China, France and Australia are very likely to advance to the quarterfinals and others such as Spain, Canada and Germany could join them.

Whether it's the FIBA Basketball World Cup or the Olympic Games, the landscape in the sport of basketball is constantly changing as many teams emerge with a chance of going far in the tournament. Another spectacle awaits.

Cover Credits - Olympics