Spain won the tournament by beating Greece 70–47 in the championship final.

The bronze medal was won by the United States, who defeated Argentina, 96–81, in the third place game, after a semi-finals loss to Greece.

There were 24 teams taking part in the 2006 World Cup of Basketball.

The following national teams competed: Argentina France Lebanon Nigeria Serbia and Montenegro Venezuela Angola Germany Japan New Zealand Panama Spain Australia Brazil Greece Lithuania Qatar Turkey China Italy Puerto Rico Senegal Slovenia United States Japan qualified as the host country, and Italy, Puerto Rico, Serbia and Montenegro, and Turkey gained FIBA wild-card invitations.

The final was an unexpectedly one-sided affair, with Spain dominating from the beginning and limiting Greece to just 47 points, fewer than the Greeks had scored in any single game in the tournament, and less than half what Greece had scored against the US in the semifinals.

Spain won despite having lost power forward Pau Gasol, who was ultimately named the tournament's most valuable player, to injury in a semifinal match against Argentina.