Basketball at the 2000 Summer Olympics

The 2000 Olympic basketball tournaments were held at the Dome and Exhibition Complex, with the final rounds held at the Sydney SuperDome, both in the Sydney Olympic Park. Both were built specifically for the 2000 Olympics and continue to be popular venues for sporting and entertainment events.

The format was the same as in 1996, with both men and women playing the same format – two 6-team groups, playing in a round-robin format, with the top four teams in each group advancing to the knock-out phase, beginning with the quarter-finals.

The 12 men’s teams were selected as follows – Australia as host nation; Serbia & Montenegro as the 1998 World Champion; 1999 Tournament of the Americas (United States, Canada); 1999 European Championships (Italy, Spain, France, Lithuania, Russia); and the 1999 Oceanian, Asian, and African Champions (New Zealand, China, Angola, respectively).

The 12 women’s teams were selected as follows – Australia as host nation; the United States as the 1998 World Champion; 1999 European Championships (Poland, France, Russia, Slovakia); 1999 Tournament of the Americans (Cuba, Brazil, Canada); and the 1999 Oceanian, Asian, and African Champions (New Zealand, Korea, Senegal, respectively)

The United States men and women again won both gold medals, although the gap between the men’s NBA All-Star teams and the other international teams was narrowing. Conversely, the US women seemed to become even more dominant than in previous years.