Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics

Note: The International Olympic Committee medal database shows only these players as medalists. They all played at least one match during the tournament. The reserve players are not listed as medalists.

Winners advanced to the second round, while losers competed in the first consolation round for another chance to move on.

Byes: Philippines, United States   (drawn against Spain, who withdrew) and   Czechoslovakia (drawn against Hungary, who withdrew).

Winners returned to the main competition for the second round, while losers were eliminated.

• Uruguay 17–10 Belgium
• China 45–38 France
• Egypt 33–23 Turkey

Byes: Brazil, Germany and Poland

Winners advanced to the third round. Losers competed in the second consolation round for another chance to move on.

• Philippines 32–30 Mexico
• Japan 43–31 Poland
• Uruguay 36–23 Egypt
• Peru 29–21 China
• United States 52–28 Estonia
• Italy 58–16 Germany
• Switzerland 25–12 Czechoslovakia
• Chile 23–18 Brazil
• Canada 34–23 Latvia

• Poland def. Latvia, 28–23
• Brazil def. China, 32–14
• Mexico def. Egypt, 32–10
• Czechoslovakia def. Germany, 20–9

Bye: Estonia

The third round was the first to cause automatic elimination for losers, with no consolation round. Winners advanced to the quarterfinals.

Byes: United States and Peru

Winners of the quarterfinals advanced to the medals round, with losers playing in classification matches.

• United States 56–23 Philippines
• Mexico 24–17 Italy
• Canada 41–21 Uruguay

Bye: Poland (Peru withdrew from the Olympic Games to protest the decision of the Olympic Committee and FIFA in the football tournament).

• Philippines 32–14 Italy

Bye: Uruguay (Peru withdrew from the competition - see above).

• Philippines 33–23 Uruguay

The final was played in driving rain, turning the court into a quagmire such that it was impossible to dribble, while the conditions kept scoring to a minimum: highest scorer in the game was Joe Fortenberry of the United States, with eight points. In addition, almost all of the nearly 1,000 in attendance had to stand in the rain throughout the final, as there were virtually no seats for spectators.

For the team rosters see: Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads.

Each country was allowed to enter one team of 14 players and they all were eligible for participation; however, only seven were allowed to dress for competition at any one game.

A total of 199(*) basketball players from 21 nations competed at the Berlin Games:

•   Belgium (8 – from a squad of 14)
•   Brazil (8 – from a squad of 10)
•   Canada (9 – from a squad of 14)
•   Chile (7 – from a squad of 11)
•   Republic of China (13 – from a squad of 14)
•   Czechoslovakia (12 – from a squad of 12)
•   Egypt (7 – from a squad of 10)
•   Estonia (8 – from a squad of 11)
•   France (11 – from a squad of 14)
•   Germany (10 – from a squad of 14)
•   Italy (13 – from a squad of 14)
•   Japan (8 – from a squad of 11)
•   Latvia (7 – from a squad of 11)
•   Mexico (11 – from a squad of 11)
•   Peru (9 – from a squad of 13)
•   Philippines (9 – from a squad of 12)
•   Poland (10 – from a squad of 14)
•   Switzerland (8 – from a squad of 13)
•   Turkey (8 – from a squad of 10)
•   United States (14 – alternating squads of seven players)
•   Uruguay (9 – from a squad of 13)

Hungary and Spain withdrew before playing a match.

(*) NOTE: There are only players counted, which participated in one game at least.

Not all reserve players are known.

Note: Hungary and Spain withdrew before competition started