Luka Doncic and Slovenia will try to qualify for the Paris tournament through one of four upcoming qualifying tournaments.
Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are getting one last chance to play in the Paris Olympics, as are Domantas Sabonis and Nikola Vucevic, and Rudy Fernandez is getting a chance to make history.
The final four spots on the 12-team men's basketball team for the Paris Olympics will begin to be decided on Tuesday as a winner-take-all qualifying tournament begins among Spain, Latvia, Puerto Rico and Greece.
Six-team tournaments will be held at each venue until July 7, with the four winning teams securing the remaining four Olympic spots.
“We're in a great position,” Antetokounmpo said when asked about playing qualifying games on home soil in Greece.
He and Doncic will likely go head-to-head at some point, with Slovenia in Greece for the qualifiers, while Spain's Olympic regulars have more in the bag than just a trip to Paris, including the goal of making Spain great Fernandez the first men's basketball player to play in six Olympic Games.
“We want to see that dream come true,” Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said.
Each tournament will be played in two groups of three teams each. Each country will play against the other two teams in their group in group games, which will take place from Tuesday to Thursday. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals on Saturday. The finals across all four venues will be played on Sunday.
Qualifier Overview:
Spain
Group A: Lebanon, Angola, Spain
Group B: Finland, Poland, Bahamas
Spain will have a big advantage playing at home, but the Bahamas believe they can pose a surprise for three big reasons: Deandre Ayton, Buddy Hield and Eric Gordon, all of whom are on the Bahamas' qualifying roster.
Latvia
Group A: Georgia, Philippines, Latvia.
Group B: Brazil, Cameroon, Montenegro.
It wasn't the easiest matchup in the world for host Latvia, especially with the Philippines coach Tim Cone, a former Miami Heat summer league assistant who won more than 24 championships during his time with the Philippines. Montenegro's hopes rest heavily on head coach Nikola Vucevic.
Greece
Group A: Slovenia, New Zealand, Croatia.
Group B: Egypt, Greece, Dominican Republic.
A Greece vs. Slovenia final seems likely. A Doncic vs. Antetokounmpo match for an Olympic spot would be a great setting. Doncic was injured in the NBA Finals in Dallas before losing in five games to Boston, but the fact that he's playing here speaks to how much the Olympics mean to him.
Puerto Rico
Group A: Mexico, Côte d'Ivoire, Lithuania.
Group B: Italy, Puerto Rico, Bahrain.
Danilo Gallinari is an experienced mainstay on Italy's team, which will face hosts Puerto Rico in the group stage but could still advance to the semi-finals if it loses. Lithuania is seen as the most experienced team in Group A, so it would be a surprise to see them miss the semi-finals.
