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This was the first time that NBA players were eligible to play in Olympic basketball, following a decision of FIBA in 1989. Until 1988, only amateurs and players from professional leagues other than the NBA were allowed to play.[citation needed]
An NOC may enter up to one men's team with 12 players and up to one women's team with 12 players. For the men's tournament, the host country qualified automatically, as did the winners of the continental championships held for Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Americas, plus the runner-up, third and fourth place from the Americas competitions. A special qualifying tournament was held for European teams to allocate four extra berths.[1] For the women's tournament, the top four teams from the 1990 FIBA World Championship and the top four teams from a qualifying tournament held months prior to the competition were given a place in the Olympics.
Two groups of six teams are formed, where the top four from each group advance to the knockout stage.
Fifth and sixth places from each group form an additional bracket to decide 9th through 12th places in the final ranking.
In the quarterfinals, the pairings are as follows: A1 vs. B4, A2 vs. B3, A3 vs. B2 and A4 vs. B1.
The four teams eliminated from the quarterfinals form an additional bracket to decide 5th through 8th places in the final ranking.
The winning teams from the quarterfinals meet in the semifinals.
The winning teams from the semifinals contest the gold medal. The losing teams contest the bronze.
Women's tournament:
Two groups of four teams are formed, where the top two from each group advance to the knockout stage.
Third and fourth places from each group form an additional bracket to decide 5th–8th places in the final ranking.
The winning teams from the semifinals contest the gold medal. The losing teams contest the bronze.
Tie-breaking criteria:
Head to head results
Men's Tournament
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. The United States'Dream Team asserted their dominance by advancing to the next round undefeated and winning their five preliminary games by an average margin of almost 46 points. The only teams representing Asia and Africa, China and Angola respectively couldn't advance and ended up competing for ninth place with Venezuela and host nation Spain.
The best two teams from each group advanced to the semifinals. The United States and Cuba advanced undefeated through the group phase but couldn't reach the finals and ended up facing each other for the bronze medal instead.
Angola
United States
Venezuela
Brazil
Puerto Rico
China
Lithuania
Croatia
CIS
Germany
Australia
Spain – Olympic hosts
Cuba
Italy[b]
Czechoslovakia
