Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

contests at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

was the eighth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at

Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, also known by its sponsorship name of Audi Dome, is an indoor arena located in Sendling-Westpark, Munich, Germany. It was initially named after the president of the Bavarian State Sport Association. The 6,700-seat hall open ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

from August 27 to September 9. The

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

controversially won the

gold medal game Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. This was the first time that the USA did not win a gold medal since the sport's introduction into the Olympics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. The bronze was won by

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, the only Olympic medal they have won in basketball. Another controversy was suspension of Mickey Coll after a positive drug test.

Medal summary

Qualification

Automatic qualifications were granted to the host country and the first four places at the previous tournament. Additional spots were decided by various continental tournaments held by

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

plus an additional pre-Olympic tournament that granted two extra berths. * Egypt withdrew from the tournament following the events of the

Munich massacre The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September, who infiltrated the Olympic Village, killed two member ...

Format

* Two groups of eight teams are formed, where the top two from each group compete for the medals in a knockout round. * The remaining places are defined as follows: **Fifth through eighth places are decided in a separate bracket between the third and fourth places from each group in a separate bracket. **Ninth through sixteenth places are decided between the fifth through eighth places from each group in separate brackets. Tie-breaking criteria: # Head to head results #

Goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

(not the goal difference) between the tied teams

Squads

For the team rosters see: '' Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters''.

Preliminary round

The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals, while the remaining teams compete for 5th through 16th places in separate brackets.

Group A

Group B

Knockout stage

Medal bracket

Classification brackets

5th–8th place 9th–12th place 13th–16th place * Forfeited match.

Final

Awards

Final standings

References

* *

Results Archive: ** ** **

Citations

External links

''ESPN Classic'' account of the gold medal game
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olympics

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

1972 in basketball International basketball competitions hosted by West Germany