Basketball at the 1988 Summer Olympics was the twelfth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at the Jamsil GymnasiuminSeoul, South Korea from 17 September to 30 September 1988. The United States won the gold medal in the women's competition, repeating their performance from the 1984 tournament.
| 12th Olympic Basketball Tournament | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seoul 1988 | |||||||||
| Tournament details | |||||||||
| Olympics | 1988 Summer Olympics | ||||||||
| Host nation | South Korea | ||||||||
| City | Seoul | ||||||||
| Duration | September 17 – September 30 | ||||||||
| Men's tournament | |||||||||
| Teams | 12 | ||||||||
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| Women's tournament | |||||||||
| Teams | 8 | ||||||||
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| Tournaments | |||||||||
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In the men's tournament, the Soviet Union took home their second gold medal in the team's history for this event. That team included a large percentage of Baltic basketballers: Sabonis, Chomičius, Kurtinaitis and Marčiulionis from Lithuania, Miglinieks from Latvia, and Tiit Sokk from Estonia.
This was the last Olympic basketball tournament where NBA players were not allowed to participate; FIBA voted in a rule change in 1989 that lifted that restriction, leading to the dominance of 1992's Dream Team.[1][2]
ANOC could enter one men's team with 12 players and one women's team with 12 players. For both tournaments, automatic qualifications were granted to the host country and the winners from the previous edition. For the men's tournament, the remaining teams were decided by the continental championships in Asia, Oceania, Africa and Americas and European qualifying tournament. Champions of Asia and Oceania, top two teams from Africa and top three from Americas earned direct qualification. The last three berths were allocated from the European qualifying tournament, held in the Netherlands, two months before Olympics tournament. For the women's tournament, qualification was decided by a tournament held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where the top six teams earned a spot.
| Africa | Americas | Asia | Europe | Oceania | Automatic qualifiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Central African Republic Egypt |
 Puerto Rico Brazil Canada |
 China |
 Soviet Union Yugoslavia Spain |
 Australia |
 United States – Olympic Champions South Korea – Olympic hosts
|
| Asia | Europe | Oceania | Automatic qualifiers |
|---|---|---|---|
| China |
Soviet Union Yugoslavia Czechoslovakia Bulgaria |
Australia |
United States – Olympic Champions South Korea – Olympic hosts
|
Men's tournament:
Women's tournament:
Tie-breaking criteria:
The top four places in each of the preliminary round groups advanced to the eight team, single-elimination knockout stage, where Group A teams would meet Group B teams. Hosts Korea couldn't advance, finishing at the bottom of their group. The other Asia representative, China, met the same fate, together with the two African teams, Egypt and Central African Republic.
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yugoslavia
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 468 | 384 | +84 | 9[a] | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Soviet Union
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 460 | 393 | +67 | 9[a] | |
| 3 | Australia
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 429 | 408 | +21 | 8[b] | |
| 4 | Puerto Rico
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 382 | 387 | −5 | 8[b] | |
| 5 | Central African Republic
|
5 | 1 | 4 | 346 | 436 | −90 | 6 | 9th–12th classification round |
| 6 |  South Korea (H)
|
5 | 0 | 5 | 384 | 461 | −77 | 5 |
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States
|
5 | 5 | 0 | 485 | 302 | +183 | 10 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Spain
|
5 | 4 | 1 | 484 | 435 | +49 | 9 | |
| 3 |  Brazil
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 590 | 522 | +68 | 8 | |
| 4 | Canada
|
5 | 2 | 3 | 479 | 455 | +24 | 7 | |
| 5 | China
|
5 | 1 | 4 | 433 | 527 | −94 | 6 | 9th–12th classification round |
| 6 | Egypt
|
5 | 0 | 5 | 338 | 568 | −230 | 5 |
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Gold medal match | |||||||
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| September 26 | |||||||||
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| (A1) Yugoslavia | 95 | ||||||||
| September 28 | |||||||||
| (B4) Canada | 73 | ||||||||
| (A1) Yugoslavia | 91 | ||||||||
| September 26 | |||||||||
| (A3) Australia | 70 | ||||||||
| (B2) Spain | 74 | ||||||||
| September 30 | |||||||||
| (A3) Australia | 77 | ||||||||
| (A1) Yugoslavia | 63 | ||||||||
| September 26 | |||||||||
| (A2) Soviet Union | 76 | ||||||||
| (B1) United States | 94 | ||||||||
| September 28 | |||||||||
| (A4)  Puerto Rico | 57 | ||||||||
| (B1) United States | 76 | ||||||||
| September 26 | |||||||||
| (A2) Soviet Union | 82 | Third place | |||||||
| (A2) Soviet Union | 110 | ||||||||
| September 29 | |||||||||
| (B3) Brazil | 105 | ||||||||
| (A3) Australia | 49 | ||||||||
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| (B1) United States | 78 | ||||||||
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The first two places in each of the preliminary round groups advanced to the semifinals, where Group A teams would meet Group B teams. Like their male counterparts, the Korea women's team didn't manage to advance to the knockout stage and ended up battling for 5th place against the other Asian representative, China and two of the European teams, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 178 | 196 | −18 | 5[a] | Semifinals |
| 2 | Soviet Union
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 208 | 188 | +20 | 5[a] | |
| 3 | Bulgaria
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 217 | 241 | −24 | 4[b] | Classification round |
| 4 | South Korea (H)
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 244 | 222 | +22 | 4[b] |
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 282 | 234 | +48 | 6 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Yugoslavia
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 199 | 211 | −12 | 5 | |
| 3 | China
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 200 | 214 | −14 | 4 | Classification round |
| 4 | Czechoslovakia
|
3 | 0 | 3 | 202 | 224 | −22 | 3 |
| Semifinals (September 27) | Gold medal (September 29) | ||||||||
| A1 | Australia
| 56 | |||||||
| B2 | Yugoslavia
| 57 | |||||||
| B2 | Yugoslavia
| 70 | |||||||
| B1 | United States
| 77 | |||||||
| B1 | United States
| 102 | |||||||
| A2 | Soviet Union
| 88 | Bronze medal (September 28) | ||||||
| A1 | Australia
| 53 | |||||||
| A2 | Soviet Union
| 68 | |||||||
| Rank | Men | Women | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Pld | W | L | Team | Pld | W | L | |
 |
Soviet Union |
8 | 7 | 1 | United States |
5 | 5 | 0 |
 |
Yugoslavia |
8 | 6 | 2 | Yugoslavia |
5 | 3 | 2 |
 |
United States |
8 | 7 | 1 | Soviet Union |
5 | 3 | 2 |
| 4th | Australia |
8 | 4 | 4 | Australia |
5 | 2 | 3 |
| Eliminated in the quarterfinals | Eliminated in the group round | |||||||
| 5th | Brazil |
8 | 5 | 3 | Bulgaria |
5 | 3 | 2 |
| 6th | Canada |
8 | 3 | 5 | China |
5 | 2 | 3 |
| 7th | Puerto Rico |
8 | 4 | 4 | South Korea |
5 | 2 | 3 |
| 8th | Spain |
8 | 4 | 4 | Czechoslovakia |
5 | 0 | 5 |
| Eliminated in the group round | ||||||||
| 9th | South Korea |
7 | 2 | 5 | ||||
| 10th | Central African Republic |
7 | 2 | 5 | ||||
| 11th | China |
7 | 2 | 5 | ||||
| 12th | Egypt |
7 | 0 | 7 | ||||
