Complete history of the Boomers vs Team USA

• It took almost 50 years for the Australian Boomers to conquer the United States in men's basketball
• Australia has beaten Team USA twice in the history of the international rivalry
• Complete list of every Australia to play at the Olympic Games

The USA men's basketball team is one of the most dominant forces in team sports history.

Since the sport was introduced as an official medal event at the 1936 Olympics, the US has won sixteen gold medals of the nineteen Olympics that they have competed in. They boast a long line of basketball royalty from Michael Jordan to Kobe Bryant to LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

The red, white and blue have long been considered untouchable on the international stage. 

However, slowly but surely the rest of the world is catching up. International stars are now seen throughout the NBA, national teams are deeper than ever and the margin of error for the United States has severely shrunk. 

Among the nations pushing that shift are the Australian Boomers, who despite never having an NBA All-Star on their national squad for a major tournament are now a team that the USA has to respect and prepare for. The Boomers have spent decades building a program rooted in toughness, chemistry and selfless play. Their clashes with the Americans have evolved from one sided blowouts to fierce, high stakes battles and in recent years have given team US more scares than almost any other national team. To understand how far Australian basketball has come, you have to trace the full arc of their rivalry with the sport’s global superpower.

The first time they met

The two countries first met at the 1964 Olympic Games, where Australia was beaten easily 78-45. At the time, Olympic basketball was strictly seen as an amateur event, with professional players including NBA stars being barred from competing until 1992. The same applied to the FIBA World Cup, which only opened to professionals in 1989. As a result, rosters were filled mostly with college players and those under 25.

Australia, still years away from establishing its national league the NBL (founded in 1979), lacked the infrastructure, resources and talent depth of their American counterparts. With a barely formed development pathway and minimal international experience, the Boomers were simply outmatched during this amateur era.

Because of this, they suffered a series of defeats in the 1970s, including an 81-55 loss to the USA at the 1972 Olympics and back to back setbacks at the FIBA World Cup, 99-62 in 1970 and a far closer 77-75 result in 1978. By the 1980s, the Boomers continued building their national program, now with the NBL as a backdrop. At the 1982 FIBA World Cup, the USA once again comfortably defeated Australia, 110-86, but the Boomers were no longer strangers to international competition. Their roster now featured emerging talents like Phil Smyth and a young Andrew Gaze, who would go on to become a cornerstone of Australian basketball. 

The Americans remained untouchable for most of the decade, including at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where the Boomers fell to Team USA 78-49 in the bronze medal match. Despite the loss, the fourth place finish was Australia’s best Olympic result. For the USA, this marked the last Olympics where NBA players were not allowed. With the rise of international programs and the USA losing the gold to the Soviet Union, they needed change to retake their throne.

The 1992 Dream Team

That change arrived in 1992 as the USA began to assemble the Dream Team. With the inclusion of NBA players for the first time, the USA assembled arguably the greatest basketball team ever led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and many more.

Australia didn’t face them in that tournament, but the world was now playing a very different game.

The Boomers encountered Team USA again at the 1994 FIBA World Cup in Toronto. This American squad, featuring Shaquille O’Neal, Shawn Kemp and Reggie Miller, obliterated Australia 130-74, a crushing result that is still the Boomers biggest margin of defeat ever and symbolised the talent divide between NBA hardened Americans and Australia’s still largely domestic based players. However, Andrew Gaze managed to lead the tournament in scoring, which showcased that talent was still developing and growing in the country. 

By the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the Boomers had grown in experience. Now bolstered by Luc Longley, then a Chicago Bull and the first Australian to play in the NBA, alongside Gaze and Shane Heal, the Aussies reached the semifinals. There, they once again faced a star studded USA team and were defeated 101-73. It was still a blowout, but now the Boomers had real NBA presence and confidence.

At the 1998 FIBA World Cup, a unique opportunity arose. Due to the NBA lockout, the USA sent a team of CBA and overseas professionals, while Australia fielded a somewhat strong squad including recent NBA first round pick Chris Anstey and NBL champ Sam Mackinnon. Although still a loss at 96-78, it was the first time Australia truly looked close to being evenly matched physically and athletically.

Then came 2004, and the cracks in Team USA’s dominance began to show. Despite the Americans beating Australia 89-79 in the group stage, the margin was narrower than expected. That USA team which was led by Allen Iverson and a young LeBron James, struggled with chemistry and team defense and would ultimately fail to reach the gold medal match. For Australia, it was a signal that even with few superstars, their system first approach was beginning to cause problems for more talented rosters through a much higher level of team chemistry and cohesion. 

At the 2006 FIBA World Cup, the US came back with renewed purpose. Despite a young Boomers squad featuring recent number 1 overall pick Andrew Bogut, the Americans cruised to a 113-73 win in the group stage, reasserting their authority with a deep team led by Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and LeBron James.

"FIBA" Patty Mills arrives on the scene

The 2008 Beijing Olympics marked an important moment in Australian basketball. Not because of their result against the USA, to which they lost the quarterfinal 116-85, but because this marked the first major tournament where Patty Mills who was then just 19 began to turn heads. His blazing speed and fearlessness hinted at the leadership role he would soon play and the heroics he would demonstrate for Australia time and time again in later tournaments.

At the London Olympics in 2012, the USA once again met Australia in the quarterfinals. The Boomers, led by a more mature Mills and a healthy Joe Ingles, played a fast paced game but ultimately fell 119-86 to a US team powered by Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Despite the lopsided score, Mills finished as one of the tournament’s top scorers.

The 2016 Rio Olympics featured perhaps the most thrilling and competitive game in the rivalry to date, with the Boomers young generation now growing into their prime with several years of chemistry building together. In the group stage, Australia pushed the USA to the edge as they led at half time and were within five points of the lead for most of the fourth quarter thanks to thirty points from Patty Mills and eleven assists from Matthew Dellavedova. Ultimately, the Americans did escape with a 98-88 win, but the Boomers had outplayed them for much of the contest. 

In the lead up to Tokyo 2020, the Boomers and the United States agreed to play two exhibition matches in Melbourne in 2019. The first game they played saw the US dominate as usual 102-86. 

But it was the second game, just two days later, that made history.

The day everything changed

On August 24th, in front of over 52,000 fans which to this day still remains the largest crowd ever for a basketball game in Australia, the Boomers stunned the basketball world by defeating the United States 98-94. 

Mills was monumental, hitting clutch shot after clutch shot and ultimately tallying 30 points, while Andrew Bogut and Aron Baynes anchored the paint with great defense and efficient post scoring. This match broke a 78 game winning streak from the USA and it marked the first time Australia had ever beaten the USA in any format.

The American side were all heavily impressed by the Boomers victory.

“That’s a great team and they’ve been together a long time…they play a great style of basketball,” NBA champion Harrison Barnes said.

On July 12, 2021, the Boomers shocked the basketball world yet again, defeating Team USA 91-83. This time, the game was in Las Vegas, silencing an American home crowd. Mills was once again the clutch hero tallying 22 points but Joe Ingles’ early hot shooting kept the Boomers alive to start the game.

This second win over the USA in two years marked the first time any nation had beaten Team USA in consecutive games since NBA players were allowed into international competition.

The two nations met again at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 due to the pandemic). In the semi-finals, the Boomers held a 15 point lead in the first half, shocking the Americans with their pace. But against a team stacked with NBA superstars, no lead is ever truly safe. Behind Kevin Durant’s brilliance, Team USA stormed back to win 97-78 before claiming gold in the final. For the Boomers, it was heartbreakingly close to their 3rd consecutive win against the powerhouses and Olympic glory.

Australia would go on to win bronze in their next game, their first ever Olympic medal in men's basketball.

What's next in this historic match-up

In 2024, the most recent meeting occurred in an exhibition game ahead of the Paris Olympics. Again, Australia — even with a youth laden team that heavily featured Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels — pushed the Americans to the edge, but ultimately lost 98-92.

Whilst the USA are still likely to be the favourites of the global basketball landscape for the foreseeable future, the rest of the world has caught up significantly and no team reflects that more than Australia. From blowout losses in the amateur era to historic victories in recent exhibitions, the Boomers have become one of only two national teams to beat the USA multiple times in the past 20 years.

Built on a foundation of toughness, chemistry, and pride that prioritised team basketball over a one or two-player system, the Boomers have announced themselves as one of the few teams the USA genuinely fears. With emerging stars such as Giddey joining the leadership of veterans such as Patty Mills, the Boomers show no signs of slowing down.

Their next victory against team USA may very well come sooner rather than later.