The men's national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

[3] After the disappointing World Cup, in which only four of the initial 35 candidates were on the final roster,[4] star players began openly expressing an interest in joining the Olympic team.

[7][8][9] Complicating the decision for National Basketball Association (NBA) players to commit to the Olympics was the pandemic's impact on the league's schedule.

[13] Moreover, three team members played in the Finals, which did not conclude until July 20, and they missed all of training camp and the pre-Olympic exhibitions in Las Vegas.

[3][26] He entered the 2020 Games ranked second in U.S. men's Olympic basketball history with 311 career points,[27] needing just 25 more to match Carmelo Anthony's record of 336.

[30] Also committing to the team were four of the NBA's top 10 scorers from the 2020–21 season with Bradley Beal (31.1 points per game), Damian Lillard (28.8), Zach LaVine (27.4) and Jayson Tatum (26.4).

[34][35] While stocked with scorers, the original roster was limited in size; Bam Adebayo and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Kevin Love were the lone traditional interior players.

[30][36] The team also lacked a primary facilitating guard;[37][38] when not leading a pick and roll, Lillard is primarily an isolation scorer.

[39] Alternatively, the United States could have used Durant as a point forward and utilize big men Green and Adebayo's playmaking skills.

[38] Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns were named to the roster, but missed all of training camp and the exhibition games while playing in the 2021 NBA Finals.

[44] Love also withdrew from the team, stating that he was not fully recovered from a right calf injury that sidelined him for much of the prior NBA season.

A journeyman, 7-foot (2.1 m), shot-blocking center, McGee was a finalist for the Olympic team and has won three NBA championships,[45][46][47] including two with Durant and Green on the Warriors.

[46][47] USA Basketball director Jerry Colangelo stated that injuries and players' contract status, among other factors, impacted the roster decisions.

Select Team for the exhibition games: Saddiq Bey, Darius Garland, John Jenkins, Keldon Johnson, Josh Magette, Dakota Mathias and Cam Reynolds.

[43] The Americans did not play with the signature up-tempo style of the past three Olympic gold-medal teams under former coach Mike Krzyzewski.

[67][70][71] The Americans fell to 54–3 in major exhibitions games since 1992, when NBA players were first allowed to play for Team USA,[67][70] with previous losses to Australia ahead of the 2019 World Cup and to Italy before the 2004 Olympics.

[76] A day before it was scheduled to be played, USA Basketball announced that their second game against Australia was canceled "out of an abundance of caution" after Beal and Jerami Grant had been placed on COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

[24] After the final exhibition game against Spain, LaVine was placed into health and safety protocols, and did not travel with the rest of the team to Tokyo on July 19.

[79] They flew the next day to Seattle, where they took a private plane with Booker and arrived in Tokyo on July 24 before 11:00 pm JST (UTC+9), less than 24 hours before Team USA's opening game against France.

[83] The Americans led by seven points in the final 3:30 of the game,[84] but the French took the lead for good after Evan Fournier made a 3-pointer with a minute remaining.

[85] After France played 7-foot (2.1 m) big men Rudy Gobert and Vincent Poirier together for most of the second half, the United States scored just 29 points in the final 18 minutes.

[85] Nando de Colo made a 3-pointer with 2:42 left in the third to give France a 55–54 lead, and they outscored the U.S. team 25–11 in the period to enter the fourth quarter up 62–56.

[91] Lillard bounced back from his struggles in the opener to score 21 points on seven 3-pointers,[92] including six of Team USA's 13 makes in the first half.

[94] The basket also moved him past Carmelo Anthony to become the U.S. men's basketball team's all-time Olympic scoring leader.

[104] Led by 29 points by Durant, Team USA won their fourth consecutive gold medal with an 87–82 win over France.

[111] The Americans led by 10 to begin the fourth quarter, but the French pulled to within three points twice, including with 10 seconds left in the game.

[114] Durant joined Carmelo Anthony as the only three-time gold medalists in U.S. men's Olympic basketball history.

[115] After the U.S. squad missed their first eight 3-pointers of the contest, Durant made one with 2:04 left in the first quarter, beginning a 21–8 stretch for the Americans for a 39–26 lead in the middle of the second.

Holiday and Middleton became the fifth and sixth players to win an NBA championship and Olympic gold in the same year, joining Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kyrie Irving and LeBron James.

[114] France received the silver medal for the third time in the Olympics, all coming in gold-medal-game losses to the United States.