Basketball was an American invention and the USA have dominated the sport at the Olympics, winning gold at 16 of 19 Games they have participated in.
Featuring stars such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant, the USA are the defending champions and red-hot favourites to add another title this summer as they aim for a fifth successive Olympic crown.
NBA players have been allowed to compete in international tournaments since 1989 and several teams will be led by some of the world’s top players.
A record total of 51 NBA stars will be in action throughout the Olympics, including 12 on the US team alone, and 81 combined current and former players.
The US have 12 NBA players in their squad with an impressive haul of 10 Olympic gold medals between them.
Kevin Durant leads the way with three, and also leads the standings of all-time points scored for Team USA, while LeBron James has two medals.
Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Jayson Tatum are all also members of the Tokyo 2020 gold medal-winning squad, while Anthony Davis was on the roster for the side’s victory at London 2012.
Stephen Curry, widely regarded as one of the greatest shooters of all time, will be making his Olympic debut and hoping to add a gold medal to his glittering haul of trophies. Injury woes kept him out of Rio 2016 and he has been clear in the past that the NBA, and recovery from the demands of the regular season, has been his priority.
Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) leads the points standings after one day of competition, scoring 34 as his side were beaten by Canada 86-79. He came up against Canadian star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), with both players leading their nations in their group stage match.
Several former NBA players will also be in action throughout the tournament, including five in both the Brazil and Spain teams.
Basketball is one of a few events taking place across the entire two weeks of the Games, with players in action nearly every day.
The men’s group phase started on 27 July and runs until 3 August, with quarter-finals on 6 August and semi-finals on 8 August. The bronze and gold medal matches will be contested on 10 August, the day before the closing ceremony.
Twelve teams are competing in three groups of four in the round-robin stage, with the top two in each group and the two best third-placed teams progressing to the knockout stages.
Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille is hosting the round-robin phase, with the knockout rounds to be held at Bercy Arena in Paris.
All the action will be live on Eurosport and discovery+.
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