LA28 Olympic Basketball Schedule: Every Day, Every Round, from July 12 to the July 30 Gold Medal Game

The LA28 basketball calendar at a glance

The Olympic basketball program in Los Angeles covers 19 days, from Wednesday, July 12 to Sunday, July 30, 2028. That is longer than the Games themselves, which officially run July 14-30. Basketball starts early on purpose: FIBA’s Executive Committee explained that tipping off two days before the Opening Ceremony lets the quarter-finals be spread over two days per gender and ensures that no game has to start before noon.

The key milestones, all in Pacific Time (PT):

• July 12: women’s group phase opens at the Intuit Dome, 12:00
• July 13: men’s group phase begins
• July 14: Opening Ceremony, no basketball
• July 16-22: the 3x3 tournament, from pool round to medals, at Valley Complex 3
• July 22-25: 5x5 quarter-finals (women first, then men)
• July 26-27: semi-finals
• July 28-30: bronze and gold medal games

The schedule below is based on LA28’s Competition Schedule by Event version 3.0, published in March 2026; LA28 says the basketball sessions are identical in version 3.1 of June 9, 2026. Schedules can still be adjusted, and we will update this page if they are.

Day-by-day LA28 schedule: 5x5 and 3x3

All 5x5 games are at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. All 3x3 games are at Valley Complex 3 in the Sepulveda Basin. Times are local Pacific Time.

Date (2028)	5x5 at Intuit Dome	3x3 at Valley Complex 3
Wed July 12	Women’s group phase opens: first session 12:00-16:15 (2 games)	No 3x3
Thu July 13	Women’s and men’s group phase	No 3x3
Fri July 14	No basketball (Opening Ceremony)	No 3x3
Sat July 15	Men’s group phase	No 3x3
Sun July 16	Women’s group phase	Pool round: 14:00, 17:30, 21:00
Mon July 17	Women’s and men’s group phase	Pool round: 14:00, 17:30, 21:00
Tue July 18	Men’s group phase	Pool round: 14:00, 17:30, 21:00
Wed July 19	Women’s group phase	Pool round: 14:00, 17:30, 21:00
Thu July 20	Women’s group phase ends; men’s group phase	Pool round: 14:00, 17:30, 21:00
Fri July 21	Men’s group phase ends	Play-in 14:00; quarter-finals 17:30 and 21:00
Sat July 22	Women’s quarter-finals: 13:00 and 20:00	Semi-finals 17:00, then medal session (men’s and women’s bronze and gold)
Sun July 23	Women’s quarter-finals: 13:00 and 20:00	-
Mon July 24	Men’s quarter-finals: 13:00 and 20:00	-
Tue July 25	Men’s quarter-finals: 13:00 and 20:00	-
Wed July 26	Women’s semi-finals: 16:00 and 21:30	-
Thu July 27	Men’s semi-finals: 16:00 and 21:30	-
Fri July 28	Women’s bronze medal game: 16:00-18:00	-
Sat July 29	Men’s bronze medal game: 12:00-14:00; women’s gold medal game: 16:00-18:15	-
Sun July 30	Men’s gold medal game: 12:45-15:00 (Closing Ceremony day)	-

Group-phase days at the Intuit Dome follow a typical pattern of a midday double-header from 12:00 to 16:15, then evening sessions at 18:00 and 21:30 PT. Which teams play in which session will only be known after qualification and the draw.

How to read the Olympic group phase

Each 5x5 tournament has 12 teams split into three groups of four. Every team plays the other three teams in its group. The top two in each group and the two best third-placed teams, eight in total, move on to the quarter-finals. That is why the women play six group days (July 12, 13, 16, 17, 19 and 20) and the men also play six (July 13, 15, 17, 18, 20 and 21), with rest days built in between.

Two practical points stand out. First, on July 13, 17 and 20 both tournaments are in action, so a single day at the Intuit Dome can include both women’s and men’s games across different sessions. Second, the midday double-header is the best ratio of games to tickets in the whole tournament: two games in a little over four hours. Evening sessions at 18:00 and 21:30 are single-game slots in a typical day.

The final group days carry the most tension. On July 20 for the women and July 21 for the men, places in the quarter-finals and the race for the best third spots are decided.

LA28 quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal games

The knockout phase starts the day after the men’s group stage ends. The women’s quarter-finals are split over Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23, with sessions at 13:00 and 20:00 each day. The men follow on Monday, July 24 and Tuesday, July 25, at the same times. Spreading four quarter-finals over two days per gender was exactly the purpose of the early start.

Semi-final day is Wednesday, July 26 for the women and Thursday, July 27 for the men, both with a 16:00 session and a 21:30 session. Then the medal games:

• Women’s bronze: Friday, July 28, 16:00-18:00 PT (session BKB40)
• Men’s bronze: Saturday, July 29, 12:00-14:00 PT (BKB41)
• Women’s gold: Saturday, July 29, 16:00-18:15 PT (BKB42)
• Men’s gold: Sunday, July 30, 12:45-15:00 PT (BKB43)

The men’s final is played on the last day of the Games, a few hours before the Closing Ceremony at the LA Memorial Coliseum. At Paris 2024, the USA beat France in both finals, 98-87 for the men and 67-66 for the women. Who reaches the 2028 finals is, of course, unknown.

The 3x3 week at LA28

3x3 runs on its own track from Sunday, July 16 to Saturday, July 22, at Valley Complex 3, a temporary venue in the Sepulveda Basin. The pool round fills five days, July 16 to 20, with three sessions a day at 14:00, 17:30 and 21:00. Friday, July 21 brings a play-in session at 14:00 and the quarter-finals at 17:30 and 21:00. Everything is decided on Saturday, July 22: semi-finals at 17:00, followed by a final session, BK320, that contains the men’s and women’s bronze and gold medal games.

With 12 teams per gender instead of eight in Paris, the 3x3 program is bigger than ever. More on the format and how teams qualify is on our 3x3 page.

Which LA28 days offer the most basketball?

If you only have one or two days in Los Angeles, a few dates stand out on paper:

• Monday, July 17 and Thursday, July 20: men’s and women’s 5x5 group games plus three 3x3 sessions in the Valley. The two venues are far apart, so pick one per session block.
• Saturday, July 22: women’s 5x5 quarter-finals at 13:00 and 20:00, and the 3x3 semi-finals and medal games in between. A very full day, but the travel between Inglewood and the Valley needs serious margin.
• Saturday, July 29: men’s bronze at noon and women’s gold at 16:00, both at the Intuit Dome: two medal games, same arena, same afternoon (separate sessions).

Remember that each session is ticketed separately. Our venues guide explains the geography, and the ticket guide covers the 2027 sale.

Watching the Olympics from outside California

All times on this page are Pacific Daylight Time. For fans on the East Coast, add three hours: the men’s gold medal game at 12:45 PT starts at 3:45 p.m. ET. In the UK, add eight hours (8:45 p.m. BST). In most of continental Europe, add nine hours (9:45 p.m. CEST). The late 21:30 PT sessions fall in the early hours of the next morning in Europe, which is worth knowing if you are planning a trip and want to follow other games from home before you leave.

What is not yet known about the LA28 basketball schedule, and how to stay updated

The session structure is fixed, but a lot remains open. The draw has not taken place, the groups do not exist, and most teams have not qualified: the women’s field will be completed at Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in February 2028, the men’s at qualifying tournaments from June 26 to July 2, 2028. So nobody can tell you today which session features the USA, or any other team. Our qualification page tracks that.

Tickets are the other open question. LA28 says its next sale opens in 2027 on a first-come, first-served basis, date not announced as of October 9, 2026. Our free alert emails you when it opens and at each new LA28 ticketing phase. We are independent and not affiliated with LA28, the IOC or FIBA.