Inspired by the love for the game and a shit*y performance of our country's 2021 basketball national team and sadly, not making it into Tokyo Olympics, I proudly introduce you a never before seen authentic national team project that is a tribute to the Olympics.
The aim of the project is to transform NBA 2k20 into a retro experience pack that includes iconic national teams from every olympic game since 1980 till 2020.
OBH 2k20 will give you a chance to relive or even rewrite Olympic basketball tournaments' outcomes and once again step into the shoes of basetball superstars that will never wear national team uniform again.
For me, OBH has been a sentimental journey into the past and a way to show respect and gratitude to the times, teams and players that I grew up watching.
We do remember after all.
Argentina 1996
Argentina 2004
Argentina 2008
Argentina 2012
Argentina 2016
Argentina 2020
Australia 1992
Australia 1996
Australia 2000
Australia 2008
Australia 2016
Australia 2020
Brasil 1988
Brasil 1992
Brasil 1996
Canada 2000
China 1996
China 2008
Croatia 1992
Croatia 1996
France 2000
France 2012
France 2016
France 2020
Germany 1992
Germany 2008
Greece 1996
Greece 2004
Greece 2008
Italy 2000
Italy 2004
Yugoslavia 1980
Yugoslavia 1988
Yugoslavia 1996
Yugoslavia 2000
Lithuania 1992
Lithuania 1996
Lithuania 2000
Lithuania 2004
Lithuania 2008
Lithuania 2012
Lithuania 2016
Lithuania 2020
Puerto Rico 1996
Puerto Rico 2004
Russia 2000
Russia 2008
Russia 2012
Serbia 2004
Serbia 2016
Slovenia 2020
Spain 1984
Spain 1988
Spain 1992
Spain 2004
Spain 2008
Spain 2012
Spain 2016
Spain 2020
Unified Team 1992
USA 1984
USA 1988
Usa 1992
Usa 1996
Usa 2000
Usa 2004
Usa 2008
Usa 2012
Usa 2016
Usa 2020
USSR 1988
Venezuela 1992
Just in time for March Modness, version 5.0 of OBH is released with 25 new teams! There are now 72 playable teams from the 1980 - 2020 Olympics! This update is possibly the biggest yet for this project, so check out the update log at the bottom of this post! A huge thanks to users like eda, asty08, chule, sticky-fingers, Shuajota, and Arnau13 for making this project possible!
TEAM LIST:
Spain 1988
Australia 1992
Brazil 1992
Germany 1992
Spain 1992
Unified Team (CIS) 1992
Venezuela 1992
Argentina 1996
Brazil 1996
China 1996
Croatia 1996
Greece 1996
Puerto Rico 1996
Australia 2000
Italy 2000
Russia 2000
Yugoslavia 2000
Greece 2004
Serbia and Montenegro 2004
Spain 2004
Australia 2008
China 2008 (jerseys credit to DEST; full names added to the jerseys and fixed number sizes)
Greece 2008
Russia 2008
France 2012
FEATURES
- Added year-specific basketballs for all Olympic events from 1984-2016 (credits to BLY, eda and asty08).
- Various Signature and tendency updates for players
- Added correct jerseys for USA '88 (names on back of the jerseys; original by sticky-fingers)
- Added correct away jersey for Brazil '88 (diamond designs on jersey top)
- Fixed some incorrect announce calls for players
- Fixed some player spelling errors
- Fixed home shoe colors for Croatia '92 (shoes are now black)
- Fixed Kyle Lowry's jersey and gear tearing
- Added hidden audio for various Euroleague players from 2K14-2K17
- Added hidden audio for Charles Barkley
- Added new cyberfaces from jm2k (Dejan Bodiroga, Darius Songaila, Antoine Rigaudeau, Andrew Gaze, Juan Antonio San Epifanio, Shane Heal,
Andres Jimenez, Jose Ortiz, Aleksandr Volkov, Zarko Paspalj, Dimitris Diamantidis, Juan Carlos Navarro, Manu Ginobili 2012, Andres Nocioni,
and Tony Parker 2012)
- Added new cyberfaces from the NBL 2K20 mod (Aron Baynes, Brock Motum, Kevin Lisch, Damian Martin, and Brad Newley - credits to
MonkeyManJSV - Check out the NBL 2K20 mod here: viewtopic.php?f=258&t=110253)
- Added new cyberfaces from Sticky-Fingers (Chris Mullin, Arvydas Sabonis, Pablo Prigioni - PP also converted by retroman)
- Added young Toni Kukoc CF from Stildo33's Classic Seasons Mod (Check out the 2K19 Classic Seasons mod here:
viewtopic.php?f=241&t=106204)
- Adjusted dunking tendencies for the following teams:
1980 Yugoslavia
1984 Spain
1988 USSR
- Added new year-specific CF's for Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Luis Scola, Kevin Love, LeBron James (2004), Kevin Durant, Yao Ming, Zhu Fangyu,
Yi Jianlian, Zhi Zhi Wang, Mengke Bateer and Hu Weidong (credits to 2kspecialist)
FILES:
OBH 5.0 Waigua and Config files: DOWNLOAD
OBH 5.0 Roster file: DOWNLOAD (please watch video below for offline installation guide)
OBH 5.0 Cyberface fix: DOWNLOAD
IMPORTANT!
Here's the SYNC.BIN file. This will be required for people who didn't get the latest patch for 2K20 or had to reinstall after the shutdown.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rPG-ep ... sp=sharing
Even with the shutdown of the 2K20 servers, the legacy of OBH will continue as version 4.0 is now available to download! Now with asty08 helping us, we have even more planned down the road! Eda, asty08, and I will continue working on the definitive historic Olympic experience for 2K20!
IMPORTANT!
Here's the SYNC.BIN file. This will be required for people who didn't get the latest patch for 2K20 or had to reinstall after the shutdown.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rPG-ep ... sp=sharing
TEAM LIST:
Yugoslavia 1980
Brazil 1988
Australia 1996
Yugoslavia 1996
Canada 2000
France 2000
Puerto Rico 2004
FEATURES:
- New stadium and court: Olympiiski Indoor Stadium
- Year-specific 1996 Olympic basketball by asty08
- Various Signature and tendency updates for players
- Various cyberface updates
- Added correct jerseys for Yugoslavia '88
- Fixed some incorrect announce calls for players
- Added real mural for 1984 Spain (credits to asty08 for the photo)
- Corrected jerseys numbers for Radja and Arapovic on Yugoslavia '88
- Updated team audio for 1992 USA Dream Team and 1996 USA Dream Team III with unused "Dream Team" announce call from 2K13/2K17
- Updated team audio for 2012 Team USA and present with unused "Team USA" announce call from 2K13/2K17
- Added hidden audio for five countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, and Spain
FILES:
OBH 4.0 Waigua files: DOWNLOAD
OBH 4.0 Config: DOWNLOAD
OBH 4.0 Roster file: DOWNLOAD (please watch video below for offline installation guide)
RayRay_953 and eda are proud to announce version 3.0 of Olympic Basketball History is now available! This will likely be the last update shared on 2K's servers, so make sure your game is up to date for any future releases using the offline roster method!
TEAM LIST:
1984 Spain
2008 Germany
2016 Australia
2020 Australia
FEATURES:
- Gear updates for '08, '12, '16, and '20 USA teams
- Signature and attribute updates for various players
- Player DNA and Cyberfaces borrowed from Shuajota's PCBasket mod (with permission)
- Various small fixes and updates to make the experience more immersive
FILES:
OBH 3.0 Waigua file: DOWNLOAD
OBH 3.0 Config file: DOWNLOAD
OBH 3.0 Offline roster: DOWNLOAD
After extensive beta testing of the roster, I'm proud to announce with eda's permission that Version 2.0 of the Olympic Basketball History mod has been RELEASED!
Ladies and gentlemen, you've already experienced some great action in 1.0, but you haven't seen anything yet! New teams have been included, and they're hungry for competition, so be sure to bring your A-game! We've got unified dream teams, youngblood talents, and seasoned veterans all present in 2.0. In this new update, you'll find some huge quality of life updates, new teams, and a lot more history lessons to repeat! Eda and I have spent a bunch of time negotiating what teams to include, how they should be featured, and ways to expand this mod even further. What started as a suggestion for a mod turned out to be a successful project, and the team behind this should all be proud of themselves. Without the collective minds of everybody working together, this wouldn't have been possible, so once again, congratulations to the OBH team! Here's a small portion of what to expect in this update:
- 8 new teams; complete with accurate jerseys, logos, courts, and murals! ('84 USA, '88 USA, '88 USSR, '88 Yugoslavia, '92 Croatia, '96 Lithuania, '16 France, and '20 Argentina)
- Accurate arena names; now every Olympic team has the authentic arena name based on the year they competed, and no longer displays "Team USA"
- Fixed announcers addressing teams (USA is referred to as "USA", and the other countries are called the "Visiting team" and "Home team")
- Various signature and tendency updates so players should play a bit more like their real-life counterparts
- "Is it the shoes?!" Yes, it is! Various players had their gear updated for further accuracy.
- More surprises in the game; you'll find out yourselves!
You can download the required Waigua and Hook config files HERE
The roster can be found on 2K Share:
File: Olympic Basketball History 2.0
User: Jack
NOTE, BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD THE 1.0 FILES FIRST, AS IT WILL NOT WORK AS A STANDALONE DOWNLOAD!
Ladies and gentlemen, probably mostly gentlemen, cancel your Friday night dates, send your kids to bed earlier, notify your employer that you're not coming to work tomorrow and seal yourself in your home. Because you're about to embark on a journey into the past of Olympic basketball competition with
OLYMPIC BASKETBALL HISTORY!
TEAM LIST:
Usa 1992
Usa 1996
Usa 2000
Usa 2004
Usa 2008
Usa 2012
Usa 2016
Usa 2020
Italy 2004
Lithuania 1992
Lithuania 2000
Lithuania 2004
Lithuania 2008
Lithuania 2012
Lithuania 2016
Lithuania 2020
Spain 2008
Spain 2012
Spain 2016
Spain 2020
Argentina 2004
Argentina 2008
Argentina 2012
Argentina 2016
Russia 2012
Serbia 2016
France 2020
FEATURES
- All teams have their specific year uniforms.
- Nearly every player has a cyberface.
- Players have their accurate gear and specific or look alike shoes. Except for some of the USA teams.
- Logos, team murals for each team.
- Clean (no specific Olympics logo) molten ball, Tokyo molten ball. Wilson ball used for the era from 92 till
2000.
- Accurate courts authentic dornas as well as stadium parts and stanchions.
- Real scoreboards for each era from 2000 until 2020
KNOWN BUGS
- Displayed names of the stadiums before the match are wrong.
- Certain non-essential players have generic faces.
- No coaching staff.
- Not all player names are pronounced by arena announcers.
If you encounter any other bugs, errors NOT RELATED to player ratings, let me know.
NOTES
- No specific formulas were used to calculate the ratings. Players were arranged according to their performance based on Basketball-reference.com
You can always edit the ratings yourself to make it more suitable for your experience.
- The project might get some updates in the future as I’d love to see Croatia ’92 as well as France with T. Parker. If you have any requests, a team you’d like to see in the mod and you have at least 8-10 cyberfaces of the players (or found someone who will do it), let me know, I’ll gladly make the roster and graphics.
FILES:
NLSC DOWNLOAD
INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:
1. After downloading ALL the 12 parts (waigua.7z.001 - waigua.7z.012), extract the WAIGUA folder and put it in your NBA 2k20 directory.
You won't be able to extract the files until you have downloaded all the 12 parts.
2. Config.rar contains a config file that you have to put into your NBA2K_Hook folder.
CAUTION! It will overwrite the config of your current mod. Make sure to back it up.
3. Online roster
Username: Jack
File name: Olympic Basketball History v1.0
Everything that is not related to National Olympic Teams, is a part of the Ultimate retro roster by Thunder Shaq.
I'd like to thank the following people for their passion and contribution.
I would like to express my gratitude to the modders whose skill and cooperation made it possible to accomplish the work.
Thank you.
Ray, Mike you are the definition of a love and passion for the game!
for his retro mods and the Ultimate retro roster.
Shuajota
a crazy man with lots of love and passion for modding. I wouldn't have started this without him. First, thank you for continuing mods for 2k. Second, for awesome cyberfaces and
all the time you devoted for helping me get the idea how modding works today.
for being the part of the team that continues working FIBA/Euro mods. For outstanding work with some jerseys and help with fonts.
for not only having sticky, but also gold fingers. For his love for retro mods; jerseys (USA '96) and courts (Barca '92) and helping me even while being on holidays. For outstanding scoreboards.
for cyberfaces
cyberfaces.
court template.
face conversions (Oberto, Delfino)
advice on some jerseys
for making top quality basketballs
Rio scoreboard texture
Here's the first LESSON OF OLYMPIC BASKETBALL HISTORY:
USA - The legendary Dream Team - the greatest team ever assembled.
LTU - The other Dream Team. A team whose athletes struggled under Soviet rule, became symbols of Lithuania's independence movement, and - with help from the Grateful Dead - triumphed at the Barcelona Olympics.
www.espn.com:SYDNEY, Australia -- One of the greatest upsets in the history of basketball came within inches of happening. The mighty Americans, the team that couldn't lose, almost did just that.
Alonzo Mourning battles for the ball with Lithuania's Darius Songaila Friday. Mourning had 16 points for the U.S.
In a game that wasn't decided until the final shot missed by about a foot, the United States edged Lithuania 85-83 Friday night to reach the gold medal game.
The potential winning shot was taken from 3-point range by Sarunas Jasikevicius and appeared to leave his hand after the final buzzer. But one of the referees held his hand up to signal that the shot would count if it went.
It didn't, missing short and left, and the Americans escaped with what was by far their closest victory -- and their biggest scare -- since NBA players started competing in the Olympics in 1992.
"If somebody had told us coming to the Olympics that we would lose to the U.S. by two points, nobody would have believed him," Lithuania's Tomas Masiulis said. "But tonight, we even had a chance to win."
Coming into these Olympics, few even believed it was possible to play a close game against the U.S. men, who had never won by fewer than 22 points in the two previous Olympics.
But that's what happened on this incredible night in a game in which neither team led by more than three points over the final 15{ minutes.
"I don't know, if we had lost, if we would have come back for the bronze medal game," said Ray Allen, who thought the final shot was going in. "I don't know how we would have felt on that 14-15 hour flight back to our cities and families."
The dramatic final minute was like a game unto itself, with Lithuania's best free throw shooter, who hadn't missed from the line in the entire tournament, missing two out of three when he had a chance to give his team a three-point lead with 43.4 seconds left.
Some 18 seconds later, the pressure got to Kevin Garnett, too, as he missed a pair from the line with a chance to put the U.S. team up by three.
Antonio McDyess, who had fouled Ramunas Siskauskas in 3-point territory moments earlier, atoned for his blunder by converting Garnett's second miss to make it 84-81.
"I was feeling so low, my heart was in my shoe," McDyess said. "I knew I had to come out and make a big play. I knew if he missed the second I had to get the ball, and I said, 'Ain't nobody gonna stop me from getting this ball."'
Jasikevicius, who led Lithuania with 27 points, decided to forsake a tying 3-point attempt and drove through traffic for a layup that made it a one-point game with 11.4 seconds left. The Lithuanians then fouled Jason Kidd, and he made only one of two with 9.4 seconds left.
The teams scrambled for the rebound of Kidd's miss and a jump ball was called, and Lithuania got a final chance when McDyess was called for a jump ball violation.
Jasikevicius, closely guarded by Kidd, dribbled away almost all of the remaining 5.2 seconds trying to get free before attempting his shot from about 22 feet away.
"I made him turn, and he took a bad shot," Kidd said.
When it missed, U.S. coach Rudy Tomjanovich pumped his fist, Carter pointed to the sky and the Americans celebrated at center court as if they had just won the game of their lives.
And indeed, they had.
"We definitely would have been the goat of the Olympics," Kidd said.
The United States moved on to face France in the gold medal game Sunday.
U.S. assistant coach Larry Brown, irate at the officiating, went after the referees as they left the court and had to be held back by other members of the U.S. staff.
Lithuania, which lost to the Americans by just nine points in the preliminary round, will have to settle for the bronze medal game against Australia.
But with what they nearly pulled off, they should get some sort of special medal for changing the way the world will view basketball.
"Lithuania showed big heart. No one expected them to come out and play the way they did. They never backed down once," McDyess said.
Only a week ago, many were wondering whether it was still a good idea to send professional players to the Olympics. The games weren't even competitive, they said, and the rest of the world was still 20 years away from a victory, they believed.
No one will ever make that argument again.
Probably one of my favourite Olympics. First, because of Sarunas Jasikevicis performance during group stage and of course a fantastic final game, Argentina vs Italy.
www.espn.com:
Passed over by every NBA team and known mostly for his last-second miss in Sydney, a Lithuanian guard made a name for himself:Sah-ROO'-nis Yah-seh-KEH'-vih-shuhs.
Team USA turned in its best performance yet in Athens, but still lost to Lithuania. Sarunas Jasikevicius, whose off-target 3-pointer kept his team from pulling off the biggest upset of the 2000 Games, didn't miss when it counted Saturday night in a thrilling 94-90 victory against the United States.
He scored 28 points and hit three in a row from behind the arc as the fourth quarter wound down, including a rare four-point play that put his team ahead to stay.
Fun fact:
During the game against the USA, French, Spanish and other countries‘ fans joined Lithuanian fans and supported the small European country. Later, Greek police officers surrounded the fans, just to be on the safe side I guess.
Argentina - a once-in-a-generation team, led by Manu Ginobili, brought down the “Dream Team” and won gold at the 2004 Olympic Games.
The DNA of what went on to be called The Golden Generation was the unity and friendship between all team members.
However, one name rose above them all. Ginobili scored 142 points in eight matches at Athens 2004, averaging 19.4 points per game and his efforts saw him named the MVP at Athens 2004.
https://olympics.com/:For some, this was the redemption match for Team USA after losing the gold medal in Athens 2004 against Argentina.
This time, the 'Dream Team' were even hungrier to triumph, but their rivals were not easy: Spain. A team that featured the likes of Pau Gasol, Rudy Fernandéz, Ricky Rubio. However, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade had other ideas and scored 20 and 27 points respectively. Eventually, Team USA defeated a colossal Spanish team 107-118 in one of the most dramatic Olympic Basketball finals in history.
USA wins the Gold medal and Spain the Silver in the men's basketball final at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Game. Argentina [to be added] beats Lithuania and wins the Bronze medal.
L
SPAIN vs USA: A close game :For its entire history, the goal of the United States men’s national basketball team has been nothing less than the gold medal. The 2012 team, while not living up to some of their pre-Olympics hype, delivered just that, beating Spain 107-100 in a game that was unexpectedly close.
Led by Kevin Durant’s 30 points, and a number of key shots by LeBron James, the United States endured a first half where the Spanish outside shooters could do no wrong and an epic third quarter from Pau Gasol in which the Lakers star seemed to score at will.
The game was within one point going into the fourth quarter, but the U.S. built its lead into double-digits before removing its starters to close out the game.
Foul trouble on both sides led to a great deal of complaining on the court, but the U.S. ended the game celebrating wildly on the court in London.
It was the last Olympics for both Kobe Bryant and Coach Mike Krzyzewski, but the enduring image of the games will be the visible change in James, who followed up his first N.B.A. championship by taking charge of the national team and leading it to a second consecutive gold medal.
Russia vs Argentina:
If Russia wins, it's the first basketball medal for them at the Olympics. (Not counting the USSR medals)While all the talk has been focused on the gold-medal matchup between Team USA and Spain, the battle for the bronze between Russia and Argentina has already stolen the show.
Russia beat Argentina by a score of 81-77 after one of the wildest endings fans could want.
With the 2012 Summer Olympics coming to a close on Sunday, there was no better way to end these amazing London Games than with a battle like the one we saw in the bronze-medal game of the men’s basketball tournament.
Add in a plethora of well-known NBA names in this matchup (Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Andrei Kirilenko, etc.), and any basketball fan up early enough to enjoy the action was treated to an amazing showing.
USA vs Lithuania:
LeBron James Saves Americans In 99-94 WinWith less than six minutes remaining, Team USA was in jeopardy of a shocking loss to Lithuania in the fourth game of the preliminary round of the 2012 Olympic basketball tournament. Then, LeBron James took over. The Miami Heat star scored nine points down the stretch, and the Americans held on for a 99-94 win that was competitive throughout.
The U.S. men's basketball team routed Serbia, 96-66, in the gold medal game at the Rio Games to capture their third straight gold.
***
Australia have lost a heartbreaking bronze medal playoff in Rio, with Spain prevailing in the dying seconds to hold on for a 89-88 win.
***
The United States crushed Argentina, 105-78, to advance to the semifinals in the 2016 Olympic men's basketball tournament Wednesday night. It was easily the Americans' best performance yet in Rio, and there was no need for late heroics to end the Golden Generation's run.
***
THE Boomers have guaranteed themselves a shot at an historic medal in Rio, defeating heavyweights Lithuania in one of their greatest performances to storm into the semi-finals.
-=NEW SCOREBOARDS=-!
RIO
LONDON
BEIJING
What an Olympics! After all the hard-fought games at the Saitama Super Arena this is certain: the gap may be closing, but the United States still rule the basketball roost.
For the Americans, their triumph in the Finals over France marked their fourth straight Olympic gold - and 16th in 19 Games appearances. Tokyo 2020 also saw the Czech Republic and Slovenia play in the event for the first time.
First matches showed that Luka Doncic and the Slovenian team are ready to defeat any team that stands on their way. In the semifinal though, Slovenia started strong and was very close to making a bigger mark in history, but Batum and France had other plans.
Prepelic's final second shot which could have brought the W for the young team was blocked by and old chasing artist, Batum.
Nevertheless, it was a powerful statement from the Slovenian team which finished 4th in their Olympic debut.
Drazen Petrovic - a one of a kind player, a legend who was not afraid to stand against Jordan.
The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics marked the first Olympic basketball competition held in the United States. And, with the U.S. men’s and women’s basketball teams winning gold, 1984 was the first time a single nation won both tournaments in the same year.
***
Following the USA not participating in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, the Soviet Union, along with seventeen other countries, boycotted the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
***
Michael Jordan, who also won gold at the 1992 Olympics, made his Olympic debut at the 1984 Games, and he averaged a team-high 17.1 points per game.
***
Like Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin made their Olympic debuts in 1984 and returned to win gold in 1992 as well.
Argentina '20 jersey as well as all the jerseys from '20 are made by Arnau Lucena
Yugoslavia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
were two former social states that competed against each other in the Olympics. After qualifying for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, the two teams put forth their best players. Prior to the countries within the two socialist states breaking apart, they arguably built dream teams of their own. The Soviet Union had athletes from Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. Conversely, Yugoslavia contained players from Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia. Athletes from these locations competed under their respective socialist states prior to their independence.
USSR at the time had some of the greatest players outside of the United States with the likes of Arvydas Sabonis, Tiit Sokk, Sarunas Marciulionis, Rimas Kurtanitis, and Valeri Tikhonenko. The team was coached by the father of Soviet basketball, Alexander Gomelsky. The team consisted of seasoned veterans and dedicated teamwork for disciplined basketball. Sabonis proved to be an overachieving player, dueling the likes of an upstart David Robinson to guide the Soviets to a gold medal victory. Even after their dissolution in 1991, they remain one of the most successful teams in international basketball history.
Their silver medal rivals, Yugoslavia proved to be a difficult challenge to overcome. After World War II, the team became a serious contender, capturing 5 Olympic medals and 8 World Cups. Coached by the late Dusan Ivkovic, the Yugoslavian team featured the big three who eventually played for Croatia: Drazen Petrovic, Toni Kukoc, and Dino Radja. Alongside them was Vlade Divac, who was a Yugoslav League champion in 1987. Petrovic was a fast-rising star and had all the necessary skills to be a deadly scorer and perennial key to Yugoslavia's success. Regarded as one of the black horses in the Olympics, Yugoslavia placed second in the Summer Olympics of '88, only losing to Puerto Rico and the Soviet Union in the gold medal game.
Following the events within Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, various countries within eventually gained independence and would gradually compete in the Olympics for their own pride. Starting in 1992, Croatia and Lithuania would be among the first two countries to participate. Russia qualified as their own country in the 2000 Olympics. Serbia (allied with Montenegro) would qualify for the first time in the 2004 Olympics. Finally, in 2020 (played in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Slovenia would make an appearance at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
[
The United States
was always the favorite for a gold medal victory, even with the ban of NBA players. Following their victory in 1984 led by Michael Jordan, the USA easily qualified for the 1988 Summer Olympics.
The team consisted of young talents such as future Dream Team members David Robinson and Mitch Richmond. The leading scorer for the young American team was "Thunder" Dan Majerle, a three-time first-team All-MAC player, and the 1988 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. Also contributing to the team was Danny Manning, who helped the Kansas Jayhawks win the national championship in the same year. John Thompson coached the team, notable for leading the Georgetown Hoyas to the NCAA Division I championship in 1984. While inexperienced against some of the veteran players competing in the Olympics, the United States had an advantage with incredible athleticism and youth. Robinson's imposing 7'1" stature, college experience, and service in the Naval forces played an effective role at the Olympics, averaging 12.8 points, and 2.4 blocks per game. Early on, the Americans dominated their way to the semifinals.
The United States faced the Soviet Union in the semifinals in a rivalry extending beyond the Olympics. In a shocking turn of events and a great performance by Arvydas Sabonis, the United States lost to the Soviet Union 82-76. This marked the first time in history that the United States didn't reach the gold medal game, but they would defeat Australia for the bronze medal.
Ultimately, it was the United States who would get their revenge, as the ban of NBA players competing at FIBA and Olympic events was overruled in 1989.
RayRay_953 for beta testing and adjusting the roster, for compiling the whole info of the lesson as well as the preview screens!
Arnau Lucena for jersey and number corrections!
RayRay_953 wrote:After Croatia declared independence and competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics, it was time for Yugoslavia to rebuild its basketball dynasty. They were banned from competing at Olympic and FIBA events for a short period. Now returning as a Federal Republic, Yugoslavia would prove the saying, "Once a contender, always a contender." They would continue to dominate the international basketball scene capturing even more medals to their collection. Their presence in the 1996 Summer Games was no different. The veteran Vlade Divac was surrounded by an influx of talent including the scoring machine Predrag Danilović, the floor general Aleksandar Đorđević, and the point forward Dejan Bodiroga. Even without the Croatian trio, Yugoslavia easily ran away with victories against many teams. With an impressive 7-0 record before the gold medal game, they came up short against the United States' third Dream Team.