Head coach | Mike Krzyzewski |
---|---|
2012 Summer Olympics | |
Scoring leader | Kevin Durant 19.5 |
Rebounding leader | Kevin Love 7.6 |
Assists leader | LeBron James 5.6 |
The men's national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Defending the gold medal won by the 2008 team in the previous Olympic Games, the Americans qualified for the 2012 Games after winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The Olympic team lost some players to injuries who might have made the team, and appeared to be short on big men. Their roster featured five players returning from the 2008 Olympic team and five others from the 2010 World Championship.
The US went undefeated but appeared vulnerable in five exhibition games. They finished the tournament with a perfect 8–0 record, defeating opponents by an average of 32 points while trailing in the fourth quarter only once. The Americans often played with a small lineup that emphasized speed, quickness, and outside shooting. The team set an Olympic single-game record with 156 points scored against Nigeria in the preliminary round. In a rematch of the 2008 finals, Team USA again defeated Spain to capture the gold.