The 2001 Asian Basketball Confederation Championship for Men was held in Shanghai, China.

According to the ABC rules, each zone had two places, and the hosts (China) and the best 5 teams of the previous Asian Championship were automatically qualified.

Original draw: China Philippines ** Hong Kong Uzbekistan South Korea United Arab Emirates Thailand North Korea * Saudi Arabia * Kuwait Lebanon Syria Chinese Taipei Japan Qatar India * Withdrew ** Suspended by FIBA, replaced by  Singapore which finished third in the Southeast Asian qualifiers.

With DPR Korea and Saudi Arabia out of the championship, the ABC has called for a redraw of the 14 participants in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 12.

China Hong Kong Thailand Qatar South Korea United Arab Emirates Singapore Lebanon Chinese Taipei Uzbekistan India Japan Kuwait Syria Finalists qualified for the 2002 FIBA World Championship.