The 1972 United States men's Olympic basketball team represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the

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

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Led by Tom Henderson and Dwight Jones, the team would go on to win the silver medal. In the final game of the Olympics, Team USA controversially lost for the first time in

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

competition, and ended their 63-game winning streak (the streak began in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

). The Soviet team that defeated the Americans featured international veterans, who had been playing together for years in their domestic pro league and international tournaments, while the American team was barred from sending

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

players, and used

collegians Collegians are an Australian rugby league football team based in Wollongong, New South Wales, Wollongong. The club are a part of Country Rugby League and compete in the Illawarra Rugby League premiership. Originally known as CBC Old Boys, the c ...

instead. The team members have never accepted their medals, due to the controversy surrounding the 1972 Olympic men's basketball final.

Roster

Coaches

* Head Coach: Henry "Hank" Iba -

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

* Assistant Coach: John Bach -

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

* Assistant Coach:

Don Haskins Donald Lee Haskins (March 14, 1930 – September 7, 2008), nicknamed "The Bear", was an American basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for three years under coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University). He ...

- Texas El-Paso

1972 USA results

* beat , 66–35 * beat , 81–55 * beat , 67–48 * beat , 67–54 * beat , 96–31 * beat , 72–56 * beat , 99–33 * beat , 68–38 * beat , 51–50

1972 Olympic games final standings

* 1. (9–0) * 2. (8–1) * 3. (7–2) * 4. (5–4) * 5. (7–2) * 6. (6–3) * 7. (5–4) * 8. (4–5) * 9. (5–4) * 10. (3–6) * 11. (4–5) * 12. (3–6) * 13. (3–6) * 14. (2–7) * 15. (0–8) * 16. (0–8)

References

External links