Team USA was able to win their fifth-straight gold medal in the Olympics on Saturday with their victory over France. It was the eighth time in the nine instances since NBA players have been allowed to take part in the Olympics that the U.S. has taken home gold. They settled for bronze in 2004, and Argentina capitalized by winning gold that year.
There have been eight players since NBA players began playing in the Olympics in 1992 that won a NBA title the following year after winning a gold medal. Here are all of the occurrences of that happening.
Players That Won A NBA Title The Year After Olympic Gold Medal
1992 Gold Medal – USA
1993 NBA Champions – Chicago Bulls
Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen
1992 was the famed Dream Team and was the first year that NBA players were allowed to compete in the Olympics. It was a cakewalk to a gold medal as the U.S. easily defeated each of their opponents.
The Dream Team featured both Jordan and Pippen. They entered the Olympics as back-to-back NBA champions as their Bulls won the NBA Finals in 1991 and 1992. They completed the three-peat defeating Charles Barkley’s (also on the Dream Team) Phoenix Suns in six games.
1996 Gold Medal – USA
1997 NBA Champions – Chicago Bulls
Scottie Pippen
Jordan wasn’t on Team USA in 1996. He had mentioned that he wanted others to get to go through that experience. Pippen was on the team again though, and they defeated Yugoslavia by 26 points in the gold medal game.
The Bulls again were looking to repeat after winning the 1996 NBA Finals. They won their second straight (would become three-straight after 1998) championship after defeating the Utah Jazz in six games.
2000 Gold Medal – USA
2001 NBA Champions – Los Angeles Lakers
None
Kobe Bryant declined the opportunity to be on Team USA’s 2000 team as he was planning on getting married in the 2000 offseason. Shaquille O’Neal’s only Olympics appearance was in 1996.
2004 Gold Medal – Argentina
2005 NBA Champions – San Antonio Spurs
This was easily the most disappointing Team USA since NBA players have been allowed to take part. They finished in third place, thus winning a bronze medal. This allowed a new gold medalist in Argentina who beat Italy 84-69 in the gold medal game.
Ginobili was named the MVP of those Olympic Games, and his Spurs would win the NBA Finals the following year. They defeated the previous year’s champions, the Detroit Pistons, in seven games. It was Ginobili’s second of four championships with San Antonio.
2008 Gold Medal – USA
2009 NBA Champions – Los Angeles Lakers
Kobe Bryant
Known as the ‘Redeem Team’, Team USA was determined to win gold after finishing third in the 2004 Olympics. They accomplished that goal by defeating Spain 118-107 in the gold medal game.
It was Bryant’s first experience playing in the Olympics in 2008. The following year, he got to celebrate his fourth title with the Lakers after they won the finals in five games over Dwight Howard’s (also on 2008 Team USA) Orlando Magic. Bryant and the Lakers would again win it all in 2010.
2012 Gold Medal – USA
2013 NBA Champions – Miami Heat
Team USA in 2012 had some blowout victories (including a 156-73 win over Nigeria), but that wasn’t the case in the gold medal game. The U.S. only led Spain by one at halftime before eking out a 107-100 win. In 2012, James became just the second player (along with Jordan) to win NBA MVP, the NBA Finals, Finals MVP, and an Olympic gold medal in the same year.
James won the title with Miami in 2012, and he did so again in 2013. His Heat won a hard-fought seven-game series against the Spurs. It is most remembered for Ray Allen’s clutch three-pointer to send Game 6 into overtime which the Heat won to extend the series. Game 7 saw the Heat take the Larry O’Brien Trophy with a 95-88 win.
2016 Gold Medal – USA
2017 NBA Champions – Golden State Warriors
Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, & Klay Thompson
The Golden State Warriors were well-represented for Team USA in 2016, and that is even with Stephen Curry not taking part. The gold medal game had no drama involved as the U.S. won in blowout fashion over Serbia, 96-66. Their tightest game was in the semifinals when they held on to defeat Spain by the score of 82-76.
In 2016, the Warriors won a NBA record 73 games in the regular season. That didn’t result in a championship. They became the first team to blow a 3-1 series lead in the finals, as the Cleveland Cavaliers won Games 5-7. In the offseason, they added Durant to what already was an incredible team that won the 2015 NBA Finals. In a rematch with Cleveland in 2017, they won in five games. The two teams met again in the 2018 NBA Finals which resulted in Golden State repeating via a sweep.
2021 Gold Medal – USA
2022 NBA Champions – Golden State Warriors
Draymond Green
These Olympic Games were supposed to take place in 2020, but they were delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Just like this year’s Team USA, the U.S. had some close calls en route to a gold medal. They actually lost to France in the opening game in the preliminary round. The result changed in the gold medal game though, as Team USA won by five points over France.
The trio of Green, Curry, and Thompson won their fourth NBA championship with Golden State in 2022. They defeated the now-reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics in six games.
