Olympic Basketball 2024: TV Schedule, Live Stream and Odds for Day 1

The 2024 Summer Olympics officially kicked off with Friday's opening ceremony in Paris, and the competition got off to a racing start on Saturday morning.

While many fans think of events like gymnastics, aquatics, track and football (soccer) when they think of the Summer Olympics, basketball has become one of the biggest Olympic draws.

This is due, in large part, to the sport's steadily growing global popularity. Many of the NBA's top stars come from countries outside of the United States, and in the coming days, we'll see standouts like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Josh Giddey, Rudy Gobert, Victor Wembanyama, Dennis Schröder and Giannis Antetokounmpo suiting up for squads other than Team USA.

Team USA—headlined by LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum and other NBA All-Stars—is still the men's gold-medal favorite. However, it cannot afford miscues.

"It's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can't let teams outplay us effort- and energy-wise," Team USA coach Steve Kerr said, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst.

While the American men's team won't play its first official game until Sunday (against Serbia), fans will have plenty of basketball action to track on Saturday—with women's basketball also kicking off on Sunday and 3-on-3 games beginning on Tuesday.

Olympic Basketball Schedule for Saturday, July 27

Men's Group Play: Australia (-4.5) vs. Spain at 5 a.m. ET (CNBC)

Men's Group Play: Germany (-18) vs. Japan at 7:30 a.m. ET (USA Network)

Men's Group Play: France (-9.5) vs. Brazil at 11:15 a.m. (CNBC)

Men's Group Play: Canada (-7.5) vs. Greece at 3 p.m. ET (CNBC)

*Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook. All events streaming on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

While fans won't see women's or 3-on-3 basketball on Saturday, they'll have plenty of reasons to tune into the action. Four men's games are on the schedule, and all four feature teams that could pose a threat to Team USA.

Australia will play in the early morning and will feature notable NBA names like Giddey, Joe Ingles, Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova. While the Australians don't feature some of the raw star power that other Olympic squads possess, good, fundamental basketball will give them a chance to go far in the competition.

The Australian team is a slight favorite over Spain, a team centered around players like Rudy Fernandez and Willy Hernangomez.

Germany, headlined by Schröder, Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner, is a heavy favorite over Japan and another team that could threaten to upset Team USA during the elimination bracket. While the Americans defeated the Germans in exhibition play but needed a late surge from James to pull out a four-point victory.

France is another strong contender, thanks to home-court advantage and the stellar tandem of Gobert and Wembanyama. Both Canada and Greece can view for medal contention, though Canada is favored fairly heavily in Saturday's matchup.

The Greek team is headlined by Antetokounmpo, one of the best players on the planet. However, the Canadian team is deep with NBA talent and should be able to go head-to-head with most squads.

In addition to Gilgeous-Alexander, the Canadian team features the likes of RJ Barrett, Jamal Murray, Kelly Olynyk and Dillon Brooks. It's a core group that even Team USA must respect—and one the Americans might take more seriously than others. While Team USA had only close wins against Germany and South Sudan in showcase games, it notched an 86-72 win over Canada.

Fans hoping to follow the favorites will get their first real look at Team USA on Sunday against Serbia. However, they'll get a great early look at the top competition on Saturday too.

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