The 1984 Olympic basketball tournaments were held at the Los Angeles Forum, famous as the long-time home of the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. The Forum, as it was later called (it has had various names), was built in 1967 and is still in use, now primarily as an entertainment and concert venue.

There were again 12 teams in the men’s tournament. The absence of the Soviet Union weakened the field, but Yugoslavia was still present in Los Angeles. Except for the Soviets, the Eastern Bloc boycott had little effect on the tournament. Defending champion Yugoslavia, 1980 runner-up Italy, and host United States were automatically eligible. The other qualifying tournaments were as follows – European Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Spain, France, West Germany); Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Brazil, Uruguay, Canada); and the 1983 Oceanian, Asian, and African Champions (Australia, China, Egypt, respectively).

The 12 teams were separated into two six-team groups, which played a round-robin tournament. New in 1984 was that the knock-out phase now included quarter-finals, as the top four teams in each group qualified for the quarters. The United States had won of the strongest amateur teams ever assembled, which included [Michael Jordan] and [Patrick Ewing], and they won the tournament easily, defeating Spain in the final game by 31 points. It is highly unlikely the Soviet Union would have changed the outcome, given the strength of the US team.

The women’s format was the same as in 1980 with six teams playing a round-robin and the top two teams in the field playing a final match for the gold medal, while the 3rd- and 4th-place teams played for the bronze medal. The United States was eligible as the host nation, as were the Soviet Union as the 1983 World Champion, but they did not compete. The other spots came from the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and were awarded to China, Yugoslavia, Canada, Korea, and Australia. Australia was the replacement team for the Soviets.

The United States women also won the gold medal, going undefeated, and crushing Korea, 85-55, in the final match. China won the bronze medal with a 63-57 victory over Canada.

Basketball contests at the 1984 Summer Olympics was the eleventh appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at The Forum in Inglewood, United States from July 29 to August 10. The United States won the gold medal in both events, the first in the women's team history. Due to the boycott, the Soviet Union and Hungary withdrew from the tournament. The former, having already qualified for both events was replaced by West Germany in the men's competition, while both nations' women's teams were replaced by Australia and South Korea.

The Soviet Union had won the 1982 World Championships and dominated the European Championships since the 1980 Olympics. They were considered a challenge to the United States basketball dominance, but in retribution for the 1980 US boycott of Moscow, the USSR boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. With the USSR not present, the biggest challenges to the United States were considered to be Spain, Italy, and Yugoslavia.

But the absence of the Soviet Union probably did not affect the final outcome as the United States 1984 Olympic basketball team rivaled the United States 1960 team as a great amateur unit. The team was coached by the controversial Bob Knight, then of Indiana University, and was never challenged in winning the gold medal. It was led by [Michael Jordan] of the University of North Carolina, who would later be considered the greatest professional player ever. The team members were [Steve Alford], [Leon Wood], [Patrick Ewing], [Vern Fleming], [Alvin Robertson], Michael Jordan, [Joe Kleine], [Jon Koncak], [Wayman Tisdale], [Chris Mullin], [Sam Perkins], and [Jeff Turner]. Ewing, Jordan, and Mullin would also later play on the 1992 Dream Team. The US team won their games by an average of 32 points per game. Spain won the silver medal and Yugoslavia the bronze medal.