Summer Olympics

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

Updated Jul. 29, 2024 11:14 a.m. ET

The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are here, 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: -550 (bet $10 to win $11.82 total)
Canada: +950 (bet $10 to win $105 total)
France: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Germany: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Serbia: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Australia: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Greece: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
South Sudan: +10000 (best $10 to win $1,010 total)
Spain: +15000 (best $10 to win $1,510 total)
Brazil: +40000 (best $10 to win $4,010 total)
Puerto Rico: +50000 (best $10 to win $5,010 total)
Japan: +60000 (best $10 to win $6,010 total)

* odds as of 7/29/24

Mark Few discusses LeBron's leadership and impact on Team USA at age 39

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.

However, in their first official contest of the Paris Games, the men easily defeated Serbia 110-84 and saw their odds shorten to -550 from -500.

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.

Would the 1992 Dream Team or 2024 US Team win a game against each other?

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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