Follow our Olympics coverage in the lead-up to the Paris Games.

Are we about to see the most loaded international event in men’s basketball history?

The 2024 men’s Olympic basketball tournament at the Paris Games is overflowing with star power — and not just from Team USA. Twelve of the top 15 players on Seth Partnow’s NBA Tiers list will be participating in the event, including nine of the top 10. (The only reason it wasn’t 10 of 10 is because Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece eliminated Luka Dončić’s Slovenia in one of the final qualifying games.)

Led by LeBron James, Stephen Curry and 10 other members of the NBA’s elite, Team USA is the prohibitive favorite to claim its fifth consecutive gold medal. But victory is far from assured. The Americans have at times struggled in the lead-up to the Olympics, nearly losing twice in London while also struggling to close out a third game in Abu Dhabi. More importantly, the U.S. must defeat a strong pool of opponents that includes host nation and 2021 silver medalist France, rising power Canada, 2023 FIBA World Cup champion Germany and a Serbia team led by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić. Even South Sudan, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, proved its mettle by nearly upsetting Team USA in a tune-up matchup last weekend.

Can Team USA maintain its stranglehold on the competition, or is this the year the game’s globalization causes the Americans to fall short of the gold for just the second time since professionals were allowed to participate in 1992?

Schedule

The Olympic tournament begins with Spain versus Australia at 5 a.m. ET on July 27. That game will be televised on CNBC. Team USA’s first game is on July 28 against Serbia at 11:15 a.m. ET.

The group-stage games will take place at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France. Why not Paris? It’s a long story. Below is the full group-stage schedule, with Group A games in blue, Group B in green and Group C in red.

How to watch

Team USA’s group-stage games against Serbia and Puerto Rico will air on NBC, while its game against South Sudan will air on USA. Several of the other group-stage games will air on CNBC, USA, E!, Telemundo and Universo. Each game will also be streamed and archived on Peacock. Here is the full basketball TV schedule.

How does the tournament work?

The 12 countries participating in the tournament are first split into three groups of four:

Group A: Australia, Greece, Canada, Spain
Group B: France, Germany, Japan, Brazil
Group C: USA, Serbia, South Sudan, Puerto Rico

Each team will play one game each against the other three members of its group. Teams receive two points for a win, one point for a loss and zero points for a forfeit. The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout round, along with the two third-place finishers with the highest number of points. Tiebreakers within groups will be decided by head-to-head results. If multiple teams are tied, the next tiebreaker will be the point differential in games among each of the tied teams. If third-place finishers are tied in points, the next tiebreaker is the overall point differential.

The quarterfinal matchups will then be determined by a random draw, with the two highest-seeded teams automatically placed on opposite ends of the bracket. Teams from the same group cannot be drawn against each other. From there, it’s single elimination leading up to the gold-medal game on Aug. 10.

Team USA’s roster

It’s good. Really, really good. Possibly the most talented since 2008, when the Redeem Team recaptured the gold after the disastrous bronze-medal finish in the 2004 Olympics. One could even make the case that this group’s talent rivals that of the famous 1992 Dream Team.

A year ago, as a scaled-down Team USA roster suffered a fourth-place finish at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, James began recruiting his fellow stars to sign up to play in Paris. The sting of that defeat was ultimately enough to motivate nearly all of them to participate. The final piece was convincing Joel Embiid, the 2023 MVP, to play for Team USA rather than his native Cameroon or host nation France. The Philadelphia 76ers star, who obtained dual citizenship with the U.S. and France in 2022, agreed to play for Team USA in October.

The 12-man roster, assembled by USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill via invitation only, was unveiled in April. James, Curry, Embiid and Kevin Durant headlined the list, along with Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo, Jrue Holiday and Tyrese Haliburton. Leonard pulled out with chronic knee soreness during training camp and was replaced by the Boston Celtics’ Derrick White. Durant has not played in any of the exhibition games due to a left calf strain, but the team expects him to participate at some point in Paris.

Of the 12 players on the roster, only Embiid is a first-timer. White was a member of the 2019 FIBA World Cup team, while Edwards and Haliburton made their debuts at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Durant, Tatum, Holiday, Booker and Adebayo were all members of the USA roster that won gold in Tokyo in 2021.

How deep is this team? Here’s how each of the 12 players ranked in Seth Partnow’s Tiers project:

• TIER 1B: Curry, Durant, Embiid
• TIER 2A: James, Tatum
• TIER 2B: Booker, Edwards
• TIER 2C: Davis, Adebayo, (Leonard)
• TIER 3B: Haliburton, Holiday, White

That’s 13 of the 37 best players in the NBA, according to Partnow’s list.

Who can challenge Team USA?

A lot of teams! Each of the 12 participants features at least one NBA or NBA-adjacent player on their rosters, as well as several other top international players who have either played in the NBA in the past or chose to pursue a higher salary overseas amid NBA interest. Here’s the lowdown on the other 11 entries, ranked from most to least likely to take home the gold by BetMGM.

Canada (+900): The regional rival that took down Team USA in the 2023 FIBA World Cup bronze-medal game brings an even more talented roster to Paris, coached by incoming Brooklyn Nets head man Jordi Fernandez. Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the 2024 NBA MVP runner-up, remains the headliner, but he’s joined by a deep group of NBAers that includes Denver Nuggets champion Jamal Murray, Houston Rockets enforcer Dillon Brooks and Toronto Raptors wing RJ Barrett. Ten of the 12 players on the roster currently play in the NBA, breaking the record for a non-USA team of eight, set by Nigeria in the Tokyo Olympics. Canada’s lone weakness is upfront; with Grizzlies rookie Zach Edey injured, the undersized Dwight Powell and Kelly Olynyk are expected to man the center position.

France (+1100): The hosts and 2021 silver medalists feature several veterans supporting Victor Wembanyama, the 20-year-old San Antonio Spurs sensation participating in his first senior men’s tournament. Wembanyama will start alongside Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, the 2024 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, in an intriguing twin-towers look.

Serbia (+1400): The team has Jokić, a three-time NBA MVP and arguably the best player in the sport, so it cannot be taken lightly. The Serbians were not competitive against Team USA in an Olympic tune-up game earlier this month, but that was without several key players, including Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanović. They’ll get another shot in the group stage opener Saturday.

Germany (+2000): The 2023 FIBA World Cup champions defeated Team USA in the semifinals of that FIBA World Cup and put a scare into this stronger iteration of the Americans in their teams’ last exhibition game Monday. Veteran NBA point guard Dennis Schröder and 22-year-old rising Orlando Magic wing Franz Wagner are the standouts, but Germany uses an intricate system on both ends of the floor to be more than the sum of its parts.

Greece (+2000): This is not Greece’s strongest roster, but Antetokounmpo is always a threat, even as he plays for the first time since his season-ending calf strain in April.

Australia (+3300): The 2021 bronze medalists lack the star power of some of the other medal contenders, but feature a mix of established veterans (Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova) and intriguing youngsters (Josh Giddey, Josh Green, Dyson Daniels) with NBA experience.

Spain (+6600): The No. 2 teams in FIBA’s world rankings needed to scratch and claw to even get here, barely defeating the Bahamas in a last-chance qualifier in Valencia earlier this summer. There are a few familiar names — Rudy Fernández, Willy Hernangomez, Santi Aldama — but this is far from the Spanish juggernaut we’re used to seeing.

Brazil (+15000): Another team that is not as good as it once was. The standout name is Bruno Caboclo, the Toronto Raptors mystery 2014 first-round draft pick whom ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla famously declared was “two years away from being two years away.”

Puerto Rico, Japan and South Sudan (+5000): Puerto Rico got here on the backs of guards Jose Alvarado — he of the New Orleans Pelicans — and Tremont Waters. Japan, led by Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, must try to advance without the home advantage they received in 2021. The rapid rise of the South Sudan program, led by federation president and former NBAer Luol Deng, is an amazing story, but as last weekend’s exhibition near-win over Team USA showed, they are no minnow.

I’m a fan of (insert NBA team). How can I watch my favorite players?

Twenty-seven of the 30 NBA teams will have at least one player participating in this tournament. The only teams who don’t are the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz and New York Knicks.

Besides the U.S., here are the other NBA players participating in this tournament:

Australia: Dyson Daniels (Hawks), Josh Giddey (Bulls), Patty Mills (Heat, free agent), Josh Green (Hornets), Joe Ingles (Timberwolves), Dante Exum (Mavericks), Jock Landale (Rockets), Duop Reath (Trail Blazers).

Brazil: Gui Santos (Warriors).

Canada: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Jamal Murray (Nuggets), Dillon Brooks (Rockets), Luguentz Dort (Thunder), RJ Barrett (Raptors), Kelly Olynyk (Raptors), Andrew Nembhard (Pacers), Dwight Powell (Mavericks), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Timberwolves), Trey Lyles (Kings).

France: Victor Wembanyama (Spurs), Rudy Gobert (Timberwolves), Evan Fournier (Pistons, free agent), Nicolas Batum (Clippers), Bilal Coulibaly (Wizards),

Germany: Dennis Schröder (Nets), Franz Wagner (Magic), Mo Wagner (Magic), Daniel Theis (Pelicans)

Greece: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks).

Japan: Rui Hachimura (Lakers), Keisei Tominaga (Pacers).

Puerto Rico: Jose Alvarado (Pelicans).

Serbia: Nikola Jokić (Nuggets), Bogdan Bogdanović (Hawks), Nikola Jović (Heat), Vasilije Micić (Hornets).

South Sudan: JT Thor (Hornets, free agent).

Spain: Santi Aldama (Grizzlies), Usman Garuba (Warriors).

What else do I need to know?

Remember: FIBA rules are different than the NBA. Most notably:

• FIBA play features four 10-minute quarters and just five fouls before disqualification.
• The FIBA 3-point line is roughly a foot and a half shorter than the NBA line above the break and slightly less than half a foot shorter in the corners.
• The court itself is slightly smaller in FIBA (92 feet and 10 inches by 49 feet and 2 1/2 inches) than in the NBA (94 feet by 50 feet).
• Each team gets five timeouts maximum (two in the first half, three in the second half), which is less than in the NBA.
• In FIBA, players can bat the ball off the rim when it is in the cylinder. In the NBA, that’s basket interference.
• There is no defensive three seconds in FIBA play.

The last point is key because it helps create a style of play that is slower and more physical than that of the NBA. It’s harder to create space for open driving lanes because teams can keep their top rim protectors at the basket without worrying about defensive three-second calls. On top of that, FIBA referees tend to be more lenient in allowing defensive contact than NBA officials, though the not-so-subtle shift to call fewer fouls in the second half of the most recent NBA season narrowed that gap.

Those gameplay differences hurt Team USA and help level a playing field that would be much more lopsided if the games were played under NBA rules. Team USA always has a raw talent advantage, even when sending B- and C-team rosters to non-Olympic FIBA events. However, their unfamiliarity with FIBA’s style of play, along with the players’ unfamiliarity playing with each other compared to other nations who have years of shared developmental experience, have historically allowed other nations to compete and even defeat Team USA in recent international tournaments. Though Team USA has dominated Olympic competition outside of 2004, it has only won two of the last seven FIBA World Cups and did not even medal in 2019 and 2023.

Over the last 16 years, Team USA has responded to those FIBA World Cup blips by bringing its best players together to earn Olympic gold. The Redeem Team of 2008 erased bitter memories of defeat in 2002, 2004 and 2006. Three years ago, the 2021 Olympic team overcame 2019’s seventh-place FIBA finish to win again, albeit after absorbing a group-stage loss to France and surviving by the skin of its teeth in the rematch in the gold-medal game.

Can Team USA do it again in 2024? We’ll find out beginning Saturday.

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(Photo of LeBron James and Nikola Jokić: Giuseppe Cacace / Getty Images)