Top 6 Basketball Favorites At 2024 Olympics

With the 2024 Summer Olympics taking place in Paris, France scheduled to kick off in less than a month, national teams around the globe are gearing up to participate in the world’s top international basketball competition.

This year’s tournament features a staggering number of global superstars, and an unprecedented number of true contenders. Let’s take a look at the six teams favored to win gold, according to the oddsmakers at DraftKings Sportsbook.

6 Germany (+2800)

Head Coach: Gordon Herbert

Can this dogged German team shock the world yet again? Germany will enter the 2024 Paris Olympics with all 12 players that delivered gold at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, where they beat Serbia 83-77 in the final. Despite being seen as outsiders to compete for gold, the Germans have proven they are capable of hanging with anyone.

Captain Dennis Schroder will once again be the team’s floor general. The Brooklyn Nets guard was named as the FIBA World Cup MVP in 2023.

22-year-old Franz Wagner is undoubtedly the most talented player on the team, and will be the focal point on offense.

The frontcourt also features his brother and Orlando Magic teammate, Moritz Wagner , who is fresh off of a career year. The brothers helped the Magic reach the playoffs for the first time since 2020, narrowly losing in the first round to the Cleveland Cavaliers .

Rounding out the roster are several stars plying their trade in Europe, including Andreas Obst of Bayern Munich. The 27-year-old was outstanding against the United States at the FIBA World Cup, scoring 24 points (including the go-ahead basket) as the Germans pulled off one of the biggest upsets in international basketball history.

Some key figures off the bench include Obst’s Bayern teammate Isaac Bonga, four-time Bundesliga champion Maodo Lô, and seven-year NBA veteran Daniel Theis .

The 2024 Olympics will mark the seventh time that Germany has participated, with their most recent appearance coming in 2021. Olympic silverware has proven elusive to obtain, as their best tournament finish was 7th at Barcelona 1992.

5 Greece (+1900)

Head Coach: Vasillis Spanoulis

After defeating a Luka Dončić -led Slovenia in the semifinals of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Greece punched their ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics with an 80-69 win over Croatia in the final. Giannis Antetokounmpo unsurprisingly dominated, winning tournament MVP and scoring 23 points in the final.

Surrounding the Milwaukee Bucks superstar is a plethora of experience.

35-year-old guard Nick Calathes, a former Florida Gator, played two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies before embarking on a highly successful European career.

Kostas Papanikolau’s NBA career was over before it even started, but the defensive stalwart has made a name for himself in the Greek Basket League, winning three championships since his return to Olympiacos in 2016.

Also on the roster is Giannis’ younger brother, Kostas, who currently plays for Greece’s Panathinaikos.

Greece’s last appearance at the Olympics came in 2008, far preceding the Antetokounmpo era. 2024 will be the first time that Giannis competes on international basketball’s grandest stage, and he will be aiming to bring home a better result than previous Greek teams have been able to achieve. Greece’s best Olympic finish is fifth, doing so at Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, and Beijing 2008.

4 Serbia (+1300)

Head Coach: Svetislav Pešić

The Serbian national team has been among the best in the world for decades, and are renowned for their pass-first style of play. No player embodies this selfless identity like the Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic .

Already one of the best NBA players of all time at the age of 29, the three-time MVP will be eager to add an Olympic gold medal to his lengthy resume. Jokić is far from the only impressive piece of Serbia’s roster, as he will be joined by several other NBA stars.

21-year-old Nikola Jovic took a massive leap in his second season in the NBA, cementing his spot in Erik Spoelstra’s Miami Heat rotation.

Bogdan Bogdanovic has the ability to torch opposing defenses at any given moment. The sharpshooter played the most minutes of his NBA career last season with the Atlanta Hawks , where he has averaged 15.6 points over four seasons.

Vasilije Micic ‘s NBA career got off to a rocky start with the Oklahoma City Thunder , but a mid-season trade to the Charlotte Hornets saw the veteran floor general showcase the skills that made him one of Europe’s most coveted players, averaging 10.8 points and 6.2 assists in 30 games.

Serbia is no stranger to international success, boasting silver medals at the FIBA World Cup in 2014 and 2023, and at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics. However, Olympic qualification has proved challenging, as Paris 2024 will mark only the second appearance since Serbia became a sovereign republic in 2006.

3 France (+1000)

Head Coach: Vincent Collet

It certainly feels like France’s time in basketball has arrived.

Generational sensation and No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft Victor Wembanyama took the NBA by storm in his rookie campaign, averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 3.6 blocks.

The top two picks in this year’s draft, Zaccharie Risacher and Alexandre Sarr , are also both French.

The national team could finally break out at this year’s Summer Olympics, headlined by a monstrous frontcourt consisting of Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert .

Gobert enjoyed another fine season, reaching the Western Conference Finals with the Minnesota Timberwolves . Gobert’s fourth Defensive Player of the Year award tied Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo for the most in NBA history.

A mix of savvy veterans and promising youth surrounds Gobert and Wembanyama.

Evan Fournier has found playing time hard to come by in recent seasons, but the Detroit Pistons guard is an established scorer at the international level.

The two most senior members on the roster, guard Nando de Colo and wing Nicolas Batum , are at the twilight of their careers, but can still provide a solid spark off the bench.

Wembanyama’s former teammate at Metropolitans 92, Bilal Coulibaly , was hailed as a defensive prodigy when he was selected by the Washington Wizards with the eighth pick in last year’s draft. The 19-year-old lived up to the hype defensively, and was able to showcase a blooming arsenal of offensive weapons, earning comparisons to Kawhi Leonard .

France has reached the final on three occasions at the Olympics (1948, 2000, and 2020), but has yet to capture the gold medal. This deep and multi-functional roster is the clear European favorite to challenge the United States for the ultimate trophy at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

2 Canada (+900)

Head Coach: Jordi Fernández

Canada’s roster boasts 10 NBA players, the most of any foreign country at the Olympics this summer. The influx of Canadian talent into the NBA has been a developing storyline over the past decade, and Paris 2024 feels like a culminating moment.

Canada’s strength is obviously in the backcourt, where 2023-24 MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will pair with the tantalizing Jamal Murray .

Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off the back of a mesmerizing season with the Thunder, leading the franchise to a shock No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, while averaging 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 6.2 assists. He is undoubtedly the best Canadian player currently playing, and could soon make a case worthy of challenging Steve Nash as the best Canadian ever.

Murray, on the other hand, is an enigma. At the peak of his powers, the Denver Nuggets star is a sensational shot-maker and dynamic playmaker, able to score at all three levels and win games on his own. A myriad of lower body injuries, however, took their toll on Murray and his playoff star was dimmed, averaging only 20.6 points on 40.2 percent shooting from the floor in the postseason. If Murray is healthy, Canada has a strong claim for the best backcourt in the Olympics.

Canada also has the ability to suffocate any perimeter threat thanks to Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort and Dillon Brooks of the Houston Rockets. The duo have a reputation for playing physical defense, often bringing about frustration and confrontation from their opponent.

Canada’s supporting cast is one of the strongest in the competition, featuring RJ Barrett , Kelly Olynyk , Trey Lyles , and Andrew Nembhard .

Canada has medaled once before at the Olympics, earning silver at the 1936 Berlin Games. However, this will be their first Olympic appearance since Sydney 2000.

1 United States of America (-390)

Head Coach: Steve Kerr

The unquestioned favorites are, once again, the United States. And why wouldn’t they be? The roster features LeBron James , Stephen Curry , Kevin Durant , Joel Embiid , Anthony Edwards , and Jayson Tatum .

This level of talent hasn’t been seen on the Olympic stage since the 2008 USA team, which included Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony . The talent pool in the United States is much larger than that of any other country, and the 2024 team proves just that.

Paris 2024 feels like a final hurrah for aging wonders such as James, Curry, and Durant. Current stars like Edwards, Tatum, and Embiid, on the other hand, will be keen to establish themselves on the international stage.

The only question that remains is how well this many superstars can gel together on the court. It’s certainly not an unprecedented phenomenon, as multiple USA dream teams of the past learned how to put aside ego and unite to win Olympic gold.

Yet, the game has changed, and other countries are starting to catch up with the United States. The team has been less than impressive in recent World Cups, finishing 7th in 2019 and 4th in 2023.

Their Olympic record remains unmatched, however. Since the United States started using NBA players at the Olympics in 1992, they have won seven out of a possible eight gold medals. The onus is on the Team USA to extend their unparalleled dominance at Paris 2024.

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