Danielle Solzman
Fans will have a number of opportunities to check out both the Men’s and Women’s National Teams as Team USA Basketball prepares for Tokyo.
Most games will air on NBCSN but one women’s game will air on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. The men’s team is looking for their 16th gold medal while the women are looking for their ninth gold. Coverage begins Saturday, July 10 when the USA Basketball men’s team takes on Nigeria at 8 PM ET on NBCSN. In total, there will be five men’s games and two women’s games televised. This is the most pre-Olympic coverage of the basketball teams heading into the Olympics.
“USA Basketball is synonymous with Olympic greatness,” said Jon Miller, NBC Sports. “Whether it is the women’s team going for a historic seventh consecutive gold medal in Tokyo or the men competing to win a 16th overall, basketball is one of the Games’ most exciting and popular sports. This year, viewers will have access to more pre-Games competition than ever before, with numerous star-studded exhibition games.”
“USA Basketball is thrilled to partner with NBC Sports in showcasing its talented men’s and women’s teams ahead of the Tokyo Olympics,” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball CEO. “These exhibitions will help prepare our teams for the elite competition that will exist at the Olympic Games and fans of USA Basketball and basketball in general will have the opportunity to not only witness some of America’s best athletes play, but they will also have the opportunity to see many of the best players from around the world compete in these games.”
On the men’s side, USA Basketball has named its 12-member roster for the Tokyo Olympics, as they look to win a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal. The team is comprised of Kevin Durant, who will make his third Olympic appearance; now two-time Olympians Draymond Green and Kevin Love; as well as first-time Olympians Bam Adebayo, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Jerami Grant, Jrue Holiday, Zach LaVine, Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, and Jayson Tatum. The USA National Team coaching staff is led by long-time San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who has won five NBA Championship titles.
USA Basketball’s Women’s National Team owns 15 Olympic and 19 World Cup gold medals. Headlining the 12-member team are USA Basketball veterans and now five-time Olympians Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, and four-time Olympian Sylvia Fowles. The squad also features Ariel Atkins, Tina Charles, Napheesa Collier, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Jewell Loyd, Breanna Stewart, and A’ja Wilson. The dominant women of USA Basketball are in pursuit of a seventh-straight Olympic gold medal, and have won their last 49 Olympic games, dating back to 1992. The USA National Team head coach is Dawn Staley, who recently led her University of South Carolina team to the 2021 NCAA Final Four and won five Olympic gold medals overall: three as an athlete (1996, 2000, 2004) and twice as an assistant coach (2008, 2016).
USA Basketball Men’s Game Broadcast Schedule:
| Date | Coverage | Network | Time ET |
| July 10 | USA vs. Nigeria | NBCSN | 8 p.m. |
| July 12 | USA vs. Australia | NBCSN | 8 p.m. |
| July 13 | USA vs. Argentina | NBCSN | 6 p.m. |
| July 16 | USA vs. Australia | NBCSN | 6 p.m. |
| July 18 | USA vs. Spain | NBCSN | 9 p.m. |
USA Basketball Women’s Game Broadcast Schedule:
| Date | Coverage | Network | Time ET |
| July 16 | USA vs. Australia | NBCSN | 2:30 p.m. |
| July 18 | USA vs. Nigeria | Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA | 5:30 p.m. |
*Subject to change*
Bob Fitzgerald, the play-by-play voice of the Golden State Warriors on NBC Sports Bay Area since 1997, works his fifth Olympics and second for NBC Olympics handling basketball play-by-play. Kate Scott will also handle play-by-play in her NBC Olympics debut.
First-time NBC Olympic basketball analysts in Tokyo this summer include Vince Carter, an eight-time NBA All-Star who played a record 22 NBA seasons, Kara Lawson, the head coach of the Duke University women’s basketball team, and Candace Parker, a two-time WNBA MVP and two-time college player of year. Zora Stephenson, who joins NBC Sports this summer, also makes her NBC Olympics debut in Tokyo, serving as a basketball reporter.
Fran Fraschilla returns to NBC Olympics’ basketball coverage as an analyst, reprising his role from the 2016 Rio Olympics, while fellow analyst Monica McNutt, a studio analyst for women’s basketball for ACC Network since 2019, makes her NBC Olympics debut this summer.
