Athens 2004 Basketball InterBasket.Net Home InterBasket.Net Forums

 

The History of Basketball Olympics -  March 17, 2004

During the 1936 Munich Olympic Games, basketball was played on outdoor gravel and clay courts. In this photograph, Mexican and Philipine players fight for the ball. The game of Basketball was first conceived by a Canadian living in the United States, Dr. James Naismith, in 1891. Basketball debuted at the 1904 Saint Louis Olympic Games, but not as an official sport. The rules and equipment changed rapidly in the first few years.

By 1932, the sport was so popular that an international governing body was needed to regulate the game. Thus, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) was born. In 1935, the International Olympic Committee recognized basketball as one of the world's major sports.

During the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, held under Hitler's reign, basketball was first played as an Olympic sport. It was played outdoors on sand courts. Women's Olympic basketball was first introduced in 1974 during the Montreal Olympic Games. - Matt Blair

 

Olympic Basketball Fun Facts -Compiled by Matt Blair

 

The 1964 Uruguayan team in Tokyo featured the four Duarte brothers: Ricardo, Enrique, Raul, and Luis.

During the 1948 London Olympic Games, a player for the Chinese National Team dribbled the ball under the legs of Bob Kurland, the 7' center for the US. The Chinese player scored on a lay-up.

Butch Lee of Marquette University thought he should have been on the 1976 US Olympic team, but his coach sent another player instead. Lee took a boat to Puerto Rico, where he held dual-citizenship and made Team Puerto Rico. In the game against the US, Lee made 15 out of 18 field goals, scoring 35 points in what was almost a huge upset. The US won 95-94.

At the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games, the Uruguayan National Team had problems keeping enough players on the floor. Because of fouls, Team Uruguay played the final minutes of a game against France with only 3 players. Amazingly, the score was tied with less than a minute to play! When an American referee called a foul against Uruguay, the bench rushed the referee, delaying the game five minutes. After the game, the referee, Vincent Farrell, was kicked in the groin. Two Uruguayans were banned from all future Olympic competitions.

The Soviet Union won the first women's basketball Olympic competition, crushing the powerless US team in Montreal 1976. Team USSR's women's squad was undefeated for 24 years.

The day after attacking a referee in the 1952 Games, the Uruguayan team played against their bitter rivals from Argentina. Uruguay had only 4 players at the end of the game, and Argentina only 3, because so many players fouled out. The teams engaged in a 25-person fight during the game.

During the 1948 London Olympic Games, Team Iraq lost every game by an average of 104 points per game. They scored an average of 23.5 points per game.

Two US basketball Olympians have served in the US congress: Senator Bill Bradley (Tokyo 1964), a Democrat from New Jersey, and Representative Tom McMillen (Munich 1972), a Democrat from Maryland.

Oscar Schmidt, the Brazilian sharp-shooter, scored 55 points  against Spain in the preliminary round. Schmidt averaged 42.5 points per game in those Olympics, Seoul 1988.

Uljana Semjonova, the mighty center for the Soviet Union's women's squad, never lost a game in international competition. She played for 18 years!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Athens 2004 Basketball InterBasket.Net Home InterBasket.Net Forums