The men's basketball tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, began on 29 July and ended on 12 August, when the United States defeated Spain 107–100 for the gold medal.

All preliminary games were held at the Basketball Arena within the Olympic Park, while the knockout matches took place at The O2 Arena (renamed North Greenwich Arena due to the IOC's commercialisation policy).

Twelve qualified nations were drawn into two groups, each consisting of six teams.

**A team cannot put forward at least five players at the start of the game, or its own actions prevent play from being resumed.

In case teams are tied on points, the tiebreaking criteria are used, in order of first application:[3] The teams with the four best records qualified for the knockout stage, which was a single-elimination tournament.