2024 Olympic basketball odds: Team USA favored to win gold; Germany surging

The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are underway, and as usual, basketball will be one of the sports that generates great excitement from fans and bettors. 

After failing to medal at last year’s FIBA World Cup, Team USA will look to bounce back in a big way. 

The USA has won four consecutive Olympic gold medals and seven of the last eight, dating back to 1992. 

This year’s Olympic roster has a combined 13 NBA titles and eight NBA MVP awards, and is headlined by LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, among others.

According to BetMGM, team USA poses a massive liability at the sportsbook, as 99% of the betting handle is on the men’s team to win the gold medal. 

Let’s take a look at the gold medal odds for the 2024 Paris Olympics via DraftKings Sportsbook.

MEN’S BASKETBALL OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL ODDS: *

USA: -600 (bet $10 to win $11.67 total)
Canada: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Germany: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)
France: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Serbia: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Australia: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Spain: +7500 (best $10 to win $760 total)
Greece: +12000 (best $10 to win $1,210 total)
South Sudan: +15000 (best $10 to win $1,510 total)
Brazil: +40000 (best $10 to win $4,010 total)
Japan: +60000 (best $10 to win $6,010 total)

* odds as of 8/1/24

The USA got a big scare leading up to the Olympics in one of its exhibition matchups against South Sudan. In a game in which the Americans were favored by 41.5 points, they narrowly escaped, 101-100.

The United States redeemed itself by defeating South Sudan 103-86 in its second game of the Olympic tournament. The USA’s odds shortened to -600 from -550 after the win.

In their first contest of the Paris Games, the men defeated Serbia 110-84.

On “Undisputed,” NBA champion and contributor Paul Pierce said he wasn’t impressed with Team USA’s win over South Sudan.

“For me, to be impressed, would’ve been [the USA] covering the spread. There was really no stand-out performance by anybody,” Pierce explained.

“Now, I was impressed by the defense. I like what I saw defensively — forcing turnovers, getting out on the break. … Good win. Impressed? Not quite.”

Germany is another team whose odds moved, and like the USA, its roster has several NBA players.

After defeating Japan 97-77, the team’s gold medal futures surged to +1800 from +3000. In the win, Franz Wagner had 22 points, followed by Daniel Theis’ 18 points, Mo Wagner’s 15 points and 13 from Dennis Schroder.

Germany’s odds shortened to +1500 after defeating Brazil.

One debate that has prevailed among bettors and basketball junkies is whether the current team could have defeated the 1992 Dream Team.

FOX Sports betting analyst Sam “Sammy P” Panayotovich spoke to an oddsmaker who explained how he’d hypothetically handicap a Dream Team vs. USA 2024 Team matchup.

“The easy answer is to make it a pick ‘em,” longtime Vegas bookmaker turned media personality Dave Sharapan told Sammy P. “Ain’t no way in hell we’re making Michael Jordan a ‘dog. So you go out to Dream Team -3.”

On a recent episode of “The Carton Show,” FOX Sports basketball reporter John Fanta said that “there is cause for concern” for Team USA.

“It just feels like they’re disjointed watching them. It’s not team basketball all the time. The rest of the world — these teams play at a very high, fundamental way.”

So are you backing Team USA to win the gold medal in Paris?

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