Basketball contests at the 1972 Summer Olympics was the eighth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle in Munich, Germany from 27 August to 9 September. The Soviet Union controversially won the gold medal game against the United States. This was the first time that the United States did not win a gold medal since the sport's introduction into the Olympics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games. The bronze was won by Cuba, the only Olympic medal they have won in basketball. Another controversy was suspension of Mickey Coll after a positive drug test.

Medal summary Men's basketball Anatoli PolivodaModestas PaulauskasZurab SakandelidzeAlzhan ZharmukhamedovAleksandr BoloshevIvan EdeshkoSergei BelovMikheil KorkiaIvan DvornyGennadi VolnovAleksandr BelovSergei Kovalenko Kenneth DavisDoug CollinsTom HendersonMike BantomRobert JonesDwight JonesJames ForbesJim BrewerTommy BurlesonTom McMillenKevin JoyceEd Ratleff Juan Carlos Domecq FortuondoRuperto Herrera TabioJuan Roca BrunetPedro Chappe GarciaMiguel Álvarez PozoRafael Cañizares PoeyConrado Perez ArmenterosMiguel Calderon GomezTomas Herrera MartinezOscar Varona VaronaAlejandro Urgelles GuibotFranklin Standard Johnson

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 plus an additional pre-Olympic tournament that granted two extra berths. Means of qualification Date Venue Berths Qualified Host nation 1 1968 Olympic Tournament 13–25 October 1968 Mexico City 4 FIBA Africa Championship 1970 9 –15 March 1970 Alexandria 2 1971 Pan American Games 31 July–12 August 1971 Cali 2 1971 FIBA Oceania Championship 7–13 August 1971 New Zealand11971 ABC Championship 30 October – 10 November 1971 Tokyo 2 European Pre-Olympic Tournament Various Various 2 Pan-Continental Pre-Olympic Tournament 10–19 August 1972 Augsburg 2 Total 16

Egypt withdrew from the tournament following the events of the Munich massacre.

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 (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 1972 Olympic Basketball Champions Soviet Union First title

Final standings Rank Team Pld W L 9 9 0 9 8 1 9 7 2 4th 9 5 4 5th 9 7 2 6th 9 6 3 7th 9 5 4 8th 9 4 5 9th 9 5 4 10th 9 3 6 11th 9 4 5 12th 9 3 6 13th 9 3 6 14th 9 2 7 15th 9 1 8 16th 9 0 9

References

FIBA Results Archive:

Citations

External links ESPN Classic account of the gold medal game