For many years basketball was a little-known sport in Turkey, but when the American drama The White Shadow started airing in the country, it gained popularity.

However, the national team at the time lacked experience and could not win any international tournaments until the 1980s, when Turkey won the gold medal at the 1981 Balkan Championship and the 1987 Mediterranean Games.

Since then, basketball in Turkey has grown immensely, as the national team began to play a major role in international tournaments.

The Turks split their six matches in the seven-team round robin tournament, finishing with three wins and three losses for fourth place.

Their single loss to Bulgaria in the semi-final round, however, was enough to bump them from championship contention as they came out on the bottom of a three-way tie with a 2–1 record.

The team was led by notable coaches like Yalçın Granit and Mehmet Baturalp in the 1960s and 1970s, and by Aydan Siyavuş during the Balkan and Mediterranean triumphs of the 1980s, which marked the dawn of a successful new era in Turkish basketball (especially in European club competitions) starting from the late 1980s and early 1990s.

[6] Furthermore, Turkish stars İbrahim Kutluay scored 19 points in the final game, while Hidayet Türkoğlu was named to the All-Tournament team.

Turkey qualified for the EuroBasket 2005 held in Serbia and Montenegro, but lost to Lithuania (87–75) and Croatia (80–67), defeating only Bulgaria (94–89) in the preliminary round.

[8] After their surprising results at the tournament, a new nickname, 12 Cesur Yürek (12 Brave Hearts) was proposed after the young and inexperienced teams' fearless performance at the 2006 FIBA World Cup, despite not having star players Hidayet Türkoğlu, Mehmet Okur, Mirsad Türkcan, Kerem Tunçeri and Hüseyin Beşok.

Turkey enjoyed a strong start in the second round, as they won their first match against World Champions Spain 63–60; when Ömer Aşık and Ersan İlyasova rejected a last-second shot by Sergio Llull.

Turkey's winning streak came to an end against Slovenia, when, despite a 19-point comeback, Engin Atsür missed a desperation three pointer in a 69–67 loss.

As the host country, Turkey, led by coach Bogdan Tanjević, automatically qualified for the 2010 FIBA World Cup.

Turkey topped their group, winning all of their games against the Ivory Coast, Russia, Greece, Puerto Rico and China.

The national team enjoyed their greatest success to date on the international stage going undefeated in group play and progressing to the final, where they eventually lost to the United States to come away with the silver medal.

A few months later at the EuroBasket 2013, Turkey managed to defeat only Sweden, before finishing the competition with a (1–4) record to fail making it out of the group stage.

[14] On 22 March 2014, the Turkish Basketball Federation announced that Ergin Ataman would lead Turkey during the 2014 FIBA World Cup, EuroBasket 2015 and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In the highly competitive back and forth battle between the two sides that needed overtime to decide a winner, it was the Americans who pulled out the narrow 93–92 victory.

After the demoralizing loss, Turkey would go on to lose their final match of the preliminary phase 76–91 to the Czech Republic, which relegated the team to the classification round to finish out the tournament.

[26] 1936 Olympic Games: finished 21st among 21 teams 1 Dionis Sakalak, 2 Jack Habib, 3 Hayri Arsebük, 4 Naili Moran, 5 Nihat Ertuğ, 6 Hazdayi Penso, 7 Sadri Usluoğlu, 8 Şeref Alemdar (Coach: Rupen Semerciyan) 1949 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 7 teams 3 Avram Barokas, 4 Sacit Seldüz, 5 Tevfik Tankut, 6 Haşim Tankut, 7 Hüseyin Öztürk, 8 Vitali Benazus, 9 Candaş Tekeli, 10 Ali Uras, 11 Erdoğan Partener, 12 Ayduk Koray, 13 Mehmet Ali Yalım, 14 Samim Göreç (Coach: Samim Göreç) 1951 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 17 teams 3 Yılmaz Gündüz, 4 Yalçın Granit, 5 Sacit Seldüz, 6 Ayhan Demir, 7 Ali Uras, 8 Cemil Sevin, 9 Sadi Gülçelik, 10 Avram Barokas, 11 Erdoğan Partener, 12 Ertem Göreç, 13 Mehmet Ali Yalım, 14 Nejat Diyarbakırlı (Coach: Samim Göreç) 1952 Olympic Games: finished 22nd among 23 teams 3 Yılmaz Gündüz, 4 Yalçın Granit, 5 Sacit Seldüz, 6 Ali Uras, 7 Güney Ülmen, 8 Altan Dinçer, 9 Sadi Gülçelik, 10 Mehmet Ali Yalım, 11 Erdoğan Partener, 12 Nejat Diyarbakırlı, 13 Turhan Tezol, 14 Yüksel Alkan (Coach: Samim Göreç) 1955 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 18 teams 3 Yüksel Böke, 4 Yalçın Granit, 5 Cahit Tanık, 6 Turhan Tezol, 7 Tunç Erim, 8 Yalçın Okaya, 9 Sadi Gülçelik, 10 Mehmet Ali Yalım, 11 Erdoğan Karabelen, 12 Altan Dinçer, 13 Üner Erimer, 14 Şinasi Ertan, 15 Yavuz Türkoğlu, 16 Yüksel Alkan (Coach: Samim Göreç) 1957 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams 3 Yılmaz Gündüz, 4 Yalçın Granit, 5 Orhan Girgin, 6 Turhan Tezol, 7 Tunç Erim, 9 Mehmet Baturalp, 11 Erdoğan Karabelen, 12 Altan Dinçer, 13 Üner Erimer, 14 Erkan Gündüz, 15 Yavuz Türkoğlu (Coach: Samim Göreç) 1959 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 17 teams 4 Nedret Uyguç, 6 Turhan Tezol, 7 Tunç Erim, 8 Ömer Urkon, 9 Mehmet Baturalp, 10 Özer Salnur, 11 Erdoğan Karabelen, 12 Ünal Büyükaycan, 13 Güner Yalçıner, 14 Tuğrul Demir, 15 Ali Kazaz, 16 Şengün Kaplanoğlu (Coach: Samim Göreç) 1961 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 19 teams 4 Nedret Uyguç, 5 Haşim Ülkü, 6 Şengün Kaplanoğlu, 7 Tuncer Kobaner, 8 Ömer Urkon, 9 Mehmet Baturalp, 10 Ersan Salihoğlu, 11 Erdal Poyrazoğlu, 12 Altan Dinçer, 13 Dursun Açıkbaş, 14 Yavuz Demir, 15 Ali Kazaz (Coach: Yalçın Granit) 1963 EuroBasket: finished 15th among 16 teams 4 Nedret Uyguç, 5 Nedim Hoşgör, 6 Şengün Kaplanoğlu, 7 Tuncer Kobaner, 8 Haşim Ülkü, 9 Mehmet Baturalp, 10 Halil Dağlı, 11 Özer Salnur, 12 Ünal Büyükaycan, 13 İlker Esel, 14 Yavuz Demir, 15 Hüseyin Kozluca (Coach: Yalçın Granit) 1971 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams 4 Nuri Tan, 5 Barış Küce, 6 Nadir Vekiloğlu, 7 Battal Durusel, 8 Cihat İlkbaşaran, 9 Kemal Erdenay, 10 Serdar Ersözlü, 11 Zeki Tosun, 12 Abdullah İnce, 13 Nur Germen, 14 Reşat Güney, 15 Hüseyin Alp (Coach: Mehmet Baturalp) 1973 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 12 teams 4 Nuri Tan, 5 Serdar Ersözlü, 6 Necmi Ton, 7 Doğan Hakyemez, 8 Aydın Örs, 9 Kemal Erdenay, 10 Battal Durusel, 11 Zeki Tosun, 12 Erdal Poyrazoğlu, 13 Abdullah İnce, 14 Halil Dağlı, 15 Reşat Güney (Coach: Mehmet Baturalp) 1975 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 12 teams 4 Nur Germen, 5 Barış Küce, 6 Nadir Vekiloğlu, 7 Doğan Hakyemez, 8 Ömürden Kısagün, 9 Kemal Erdenay, 10 Battal Durusel, 11 Zeki Tosun, 12 Erdal Poyrazoğlu, 13 Abdullah İnce, 14 Efe Aydan, 15 Kemal Akıncı (Coach: Mehmet Baturalp) 1981 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 12 teams 4 Serdar Koçyiğit, 5 Melih Erçin, 6 Necati Güler, 7 Doğan Hakyemez, 8 Aytek Gürkan, 9 Emir Turam, 10 Erman Kunter, 11 Mehmet Döğüşken, 12 Cevat Soydaş, 13 Efe Aydan, 14 Sadi Olcay, 15 Celal Arısan (Coach: Aydan Siyavuş) 1993 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams 4 Erdal Koşan, 5 Ömer Saybir, 6 Murat Konuk, 7 Orhun Ene, 8 Volkan Aydın, 9 Harun Erdenay, 10 Serdar Apaydın, 11 Levent Topsakal, 12 Ömer Büyükaycan, 13 Tamer Oyguç, 14 Lütfi Arıboğan, 15 Hüsnü Çakırgil (Coach: Nur Germen) 1995 EuroBasket: finished 13th among 14 teams 4 Murat Konuk, 5 Mirsad Türkcan, 6 Murat Evliyaoğlu, 7 Orhun Ene, 8 İbrahim Kutluay, 9 Harun Erdenay, 10 Serdar Apaydın, 11 Levent Topsakal, 12 Ömer Büyükaycan, 13 Tamer Oyguç, 14 Lütfi Arıboğan, 15 Haluk Yıldırım (Coach: Çetin Yılmaz) 1997 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams 4 Murat Konuk, 5 Kerem Tunçeri, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Orhun Ene, 8 Volkan Aydın, 9 Harun Erdenay, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Murat Evliyaoğlu, 12 Hüseyin Beşok, 13 Tamer Oyguç, 14 Tunç Girgin, 15 Ufuk Sarıca (Coach: Ercüment Sunter) 1999 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams 4 Kerem Tunçeri, 5 Hidayet Türkoğlu, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Cüneyt Erden, 8 Murat Konuk, 9 Haluk Yıldırım, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Mehmet Okur, 12 Hüseyin Beşok, 13 Tamer Oyguç, 14 Asım Pars, 15 Ufuk Sarıca (Coach: Erman Kunter) 2001 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 16 teams 4 Kerem Tunçeri, 5 Hidayet Türkoğlu, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Orhun Ene, 8 Asım Pars, 9 Harun Erdenay, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Kaya Peker, 12 Hüseyin Beşok, 13 Mehmet Okur, 14 Haluk Yıldırım, 15 Ömer Onan (Coach: Aydın Örs) 2002 FIBA World Cup: finished 9th among 16 teams 4 Kerem Tunçeri, 5 Hidayet Türkoğlu, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Hakan Köseoğlu, 8 Asım Pars, 9 Harun Erdenay (C), 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Kaya Peker, 12 Hüseyin Beşok, 13 Mehmet Okur, 14 Haluk Yıldırım, 15 Ömer Onan (Coach: Aydın Örs) 2003 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 16 teams 4 Kerem Tunçeri, 5 Hidayet Türkoğlu, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Ender Arslan, 8 Kerem Gönlüm, 9 Rasim Başak, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Kaya Peker, 12 Hüseyin Beşok, 13 Mehmet Okur, 14 Haluk Yıldırım, 15 Ömer Onan (Coach: Aydın Örs) 2005 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 16 teams 4 Kerem Tunçeri, 5 Ermal Kurtoğlu, 6 Mirsad Türkcan, 7 Ender Arslan, 8 Cenk Akyol, 9 Serkan Erdoğan, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Fatih Solak, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Mehmet Okur, 14 Kaya Peker, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević) 2006 FIBA World Cup: finished 6th among 24 teams 4 Cenk Akyol, 5 Ermal Kurtoğlu, 6 Engin Atsür, 7 Ender Arslan, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Serkan Erdoğan, 10 İbrahim Kutluay, 11 Fatih Solak, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Semih Erden, 14 Kaya Peker, 15 Hakan Demirel (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević) 2007 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams 4 Ender Arslan, 5 Ermal Kurtoğlu, 6 Engin Atsür, 7 Cenk Akyol, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Hakan Demirel, 11 İbrahim Kutluay, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Mehmet Okur, 14 Kaya Peker, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević) 2009 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams 4 Bekir Yarangüme, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Engin Atsür, 7 Ömer Onan, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Barış Hersek, 10 Kerem Tunçeri, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Semih Erden, 13 Ender Arslan, 14 Ömer Aşık, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević) 2010 FIBA World Cup: finished 2nd among 24 teams 4 Cenk Akyol, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Barış Ermiş, 7 Ömer Onan, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Kerem Tunçeri, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Ender Arslan, 14 Ömer Aşık, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (C) (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević) 2011 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 24 teams 4 Cenk Akyol, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Emir Preldžič, 7 Ömer Onan, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 İzzet Türkyılmaz, 10 Kerem Tunçeri, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Ömer Aşık, 13 Ender Arslan, 14 Enes Kanter, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (C) (Coach: Orhun Ene) 2013 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 24 teams 4 Doğuş Balbay, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Emir Preldžič, 7 Birkan Batuk, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Serhat Çetin, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Ender Arslan, 14 Ömer Aşık, 15 Hidayet Türkoğlu (C) (Coach: Bogdan Tanjević) 2014 FIBA World Cup: finished 8th among 24 teams 4 Cedi Osman, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Barış Ermiş, 7 Cenk Akyol, 8 Barış Hersek, 9 Emir Preldžič, 10 Kerem Tunçeri, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Kerem Gönlüm, 13 Ender Arslan, 14 Ömer Aşık, 15 Furkan Aldemir (Coach: Ergin Ataman) 2015 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 24 teams 4 Kartal Özmızrak, 5 Sinan Güler (C), 6 Cedi Osman, 7 Barış Hersek, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Melih Mahmutoğlu, 11 Oğuz Savaş, 12 Furkan Korkmaz, 13 Ali Muhammed, 14 Göksenin Köksal, 15 Furkan Aldemir (Coach: Ergin Ataman) 2017 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 24 teams 2 Erkan Veyseloğlu, 4 Doğuş Balbay, 5 Sinan Güler, 6 Cedi Osman, 7 Barış Hersek, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Melih Mahmutoğlu, 19 Furkan Aldemir, 21 Sertaç Şanlı, 22 Furkan Korkmaz, 25 Kenan Sipahi, 61 Göksenin Köksal (Coach: Ufuk Sarıca) 2019 FIBA World Cup: finished 22nd among 32 teams 1 Scottie Wilbekin, 4 Doğuş Balbay, 5 Metecan Birsen, 6 Cedi Osman, 8 Ersan İlyasova, 9 Semih Erden, 10 Melih Mahmutoğlu, 11 Ege Arar, 19 Buğrahan Tuncer, 21 Sertaç Şanlı, 22 Furkan Korkmaz, 24 Yiğit Arslan (Coach: Ufuk Sarıca) 2022 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 24 teams 0 Shane Larkin, 2 Şehmus Hazer, 3 Yiğitcan Saybir, 5 Onuralp Bitim, 6 Cedi Osman, 10 Melih Mahmutoğlu (C), 12 Sadık Emir Kabaca, 15 Sertaç Şanlı, 19 Buğrahan Tuncer, 22 Furkan Korkmaz, 23 Alperen Şengün, 24 Ercan Osmani (Coach: Ergin Ataman) Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.