Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics was the third appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. 23 nations entered the competition.
The top six teams at the 1948 Summer Olympics qualified automatically, as did the winners of the 1950 FIBA World Championship (Argentina), the top two teams at the 1951 EuroBasket (USSR and Czechoslovakia), and the host country (Finland). Thirteen other nations competed in a qualifying round to determine the last six places in the sixteen-team Olympic tournament.
right|100px|border|Basketball
Medalists
{|
|-valign=top
|width=200| <br>Ron Bontemps<br>Marc Freiberger<br>Wayne Glasgow<br>Charlie Hoag<br>Bill Hougland<br>John Keller<br>Dean Kelley<br>Bob Kenney<br>Bob Kurland<br>Bill Lienhard<br>Clyde Lovellette<br>Frank McCabe<br>Dan Pippin<br>Howie Williams
|width=200| <br>Stepas Butautas<br>Nodar Dzhordzhikiya<br>Anatoly Konev<br>Otar Korkiya<br>Heino Kruus<br>Ilmar Kullam<br>Justinas Lagunavičius<br>Joann Lõssov<br>Aleksandr Moiseyev<br>Yuri Ozerov<br>Kazys Petkevičius<br>Stasys Stonkus<br>Maigonis Valdmanis<br>Viktor Vlasov
|width=200| <br>Martín Acosta y Lara<br>Enrique Baliño<br>Victorio Cieslinskas<br>Héctor Costa<br>Nelson Demarco<br>Héctor García Otero<br>Tabaré Larre Borges<br>Adesio Lombardo<br>Roberto Lovera<br>Sergio Matto<br>Wilfredo Peláez<br>Carlos Roselló
|}
Qualifying rounds
Nations that lost two games in the qualifying rounds were eliminated. When there were only two teams left in each group, those teams advanced to the main tournament.
Group A
Group A consisted of Cuba, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Switzerland.
Group B
Group B consisted of Hungary, Greece, Israel, and the Philippines.
Group C
Group C consisted of Canada, Italy, Turkey, Romania, and Egypt.
Group stage
The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.
Group A
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Group B
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Group C
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Group D
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Quarterfinals
The top two teams in each quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals. The other two teams in each quarterfinals played in the fifth through eighth place classification.
Group E
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Group F
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Knockout rounds
150px|thumb|The 5th place match between Chile and Brazil
200px|thumb|The bronze medal game between Uruguay and Argentina
150px|thumb|The final match between the Soviet Union and the United States
Brackets
Semifinals
Classification 5–8 semifinals
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Medal round semifinals
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Finals
7th place final
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5th place final
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Bronze medal match
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Gold medal match
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Awards
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
!1952 Olympic Basketball Champions
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| <br /> United States <br /> Third title
|}
Participating nations
For the team rosters see: Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters.
Each country was allowed to enter one team of 14 players and they all were eligible for participation. A total number of 317 players were entered.
A total of 301(*) basketball players from 23 nations competed at the Helsinki Games:
<small>(*) NOTE: There are only players counted, which participated in one game at least. Up to now only two reserve player can be named, 14 reserve players are unknown.</small>
Team rosters
{| class="wikitable"
! Place || Nation
|- align=center bgcolor=gold
| 1 ||align=left|
|-
| ||align=left| Marc Freiberger <small>(Peoria Caterpillars/Oklahoma)</small><br>Wayne Glasgow <small>(Phillips 66ers/Oklahoma)</small><br>Charlie Hoag <small>(Kansas)</small><br>Bill Hougland <small>(Phillips 66ers/Kansas)</small><br>John Keller <small>(Kansas)</small><br>Dean Kelley <small>(Kansas)</small><br>Bob Kenney <small>(Kansas)</small><br>Bob Kurland <small>(Phillips 66ers/Oklahoma St.)</small><br>Bill Lienhard <small>(Kansas)</small><br>Clyde Lovellette <small>(Kansas)</small><br>Frank McCabe <small>(Peoria Caterpillars/Marquette)</small><br>Dan Pippin <small>(Peoria Caterpillars/Missouri)</small><br>Howie Williams <small>(Peoria Caterpillars/Purdue)</small>
|- align=center bgcolor=silver
| 2 ||align=left|
|-
| ||align=left| Head Coach: Stepan Spandaryan<br>Stepas Butautas <small>(Žalgiris Kaunas)</small><br>Nodar Dzhordzhikiya <small>(Dinamo Tbilisi)</small><br>Anatoly Konev <small>(Dynamo Moscow)</small><br>Otar Korkiya <small>(Dinamo Tbilisi)</small><br>Heino Kruus <small>(Tallinna Kalev)</small><br>Ilmar Kullam <small>(Tallinna Kalev)</small><br>Justinas Lagunavičius <small>(Žalgiris Kaunas)</small><br>Joann Lõssov <small>(Tallinna Kalev)</small><br>Aleksandr Moiseyev <small>(VVS Moscow)</small><br>Yuri Ozerov <small>(Dynamo Moscow)</small><br>Kazys Petkevičius <small>(Žalgiris Kaunas)</small><br>Stasys Stonkus <small>(Žalgiris Kaunas)</small><br>Maigonis Valdmanis <small>(Rīgas ASK)</small><br>Viktor Vlasov <small>(Dynamo Moscow)</small>
|- align=center bgcolor=cc9966
| 3 ||align=left|
|-
| ||align=left|Martín Acosta y Lara<br>Enrique Baliño<br>Victorio Cieslinskas<br>Héctor Costa<br>Nelson Demarco<br>Héctor García Otero<br>Tabaré Larre Borges<br>Adesio Lombardo<br>Roberto Lovera<br>Sergio Matto<br>Wilfredo Peláez<br>Carlos Roselló
|-align=center
| 4 ||align=left| <hr>Head Coach: Jorge Canavesi<br>Leopoldo Contarbio<br />Hugo del Vecchio<br />Óscar Furlong<br />Juan Gazsó<br />Ricardo González<br />Rafael Lledó<br />Alberto López<br />Rubén Menini<br />Omar Monza<br />Rubén Pagliari<br />Raúl Pérez Varela<br />Ignacio Poletti<br />Juan Uder<br />Roberto Viau
|- align=center
| 5 ||align=left| <hr>Pedro Araya Zabala<br />Rufino Bernedo<br />Eduardo Cordero Fernández<br />Hugo Fernández Diez<br />Ezequiel Figueroa Reyes<br />Juan José Gallo Chinchilla<br />Víctor Mahana Badrie<br />Eric Mahn Godoy<br />Juan Ostoic Ostoic<br>Hermán Raffo Abarca<br />Hermán Ramos Muñoz<br />Álvaro Salvadores<br />Orlando Silva Infante
|- align=center
| 6 ||align=left| <hr>Head Coach: Manoel Pitanga<br>Angelim<br />Bráz<br />Raymundo Carvalho dos Santos<br />Mário Jorge da Fonseca Hermes<br />Almir Nelson de Almeida<br />Algodão<br />Ruy de Freitas<br />Mayr Facci<br />Tião<br>Godinho<br />Thales Monteiro<br />Alfredo da Motta<br />Zé Luiz
|- align=center
| 7 ||align=left| <hr>Petar Chichkov<br />Hristo Donev<br />Ilja Georgiev<br />Konstantin Georgiev<br />Genczo Hristov<br />Anton Kuzov<br />Vasil Manchenko<br />Nejczo Neichev<br />Ivan Nikolov<br />Georgi Panov<br />Veselin Penkov<br />Kiril Semov<br />Vladimir Slavov<br />Konstantin Totev
|- align=center
| 8 ||align=left| <hr>André Buffière<br />André Chavet<br />René Chocat<br />Robert Crost<br />Jacques Dessemme<br />Louis Devoti<br />Robert Guillin<br />Roger Haudegand<br />Robert Monclar<br />Jean Perniceni<br />Bernard Planque<br />Jean-Pierre Salignon<br />André Vacheresse<br />Jean-Paul Beugnot
|- align=center
| 9–16 ||align=left| <hr>Woody Campbell<br />Bill Coulthard<br />Red Curren<br />Chuck Dalton<br />Bill Pataky<br />Glenn Pettinger<br />Bob Phibbs<br />Bernie Pickell<br />Carl Ridd<br />Bobby Simpson<br />Harry Wade<br />George Wearring<br />Roy Williams
|- align=center
| 9–16 ||align=left| <hr>Carlos Bea<br />Felipe de la Pozas y Piad<br />Alberto Escoto Valdés<br />Armando Estrada Rivero<br />Alfredo Faget Otazo<br />Casimiro García Artime<br />Juan García García<br />Carlos García Ordoñez<br />Federico López Garviso<br />Mario Quintero Padrón<br />Fabio Ruiz Vinajeras<br />Ramón Wiltz Bucelo
|- align=center
| 9–16 ||align=left| <hr>Head Coach: Josef Fleischlinger<br>Jiří Baumruk<br />Miroslav Baumruk<br />Zdeněk Bobrovský<br />Josef Ezr<br />Eugen Horniak<br />Miroslav Kódl<br />Luboš Kolář<br />Jan Kozák<br />Jiří Matoušek<br />Ivan Mrázek<br />Zdeněk Rylich<br />Jaroslav Šíp<br />Miroslav Škeřík<br />Jaroslav Tetiva
|- align=center
| 9–16 ||align=left| <hr>Youssef Abbas<br />Youssef Abou Ouf<br />Fouad Abdel Meguid Abu el Kheir<br />Mohamed Medhat Bahgat<br />Armand Philippe Catafago<br />Georges Jean Chalhoub<br />Mohamed Ezz Eldin Aly Ahmed el Rashidy<br />Abdelrahman Ismail Hafez<br />Zaki Selim Ibrahim Harari<br />Sami Mansour<br />Medhat Youssef Mohamad<br />Hussein Kamal Montassir<br />Fahmy Raymond Sabounghi<br />Albert Fahmy Tadros
|- align=center
| 9–16 ||align=left| <hr>Kalevi Heinänen<br />Esko Karhunen<br />Juhani Kyöstilä<br />Pentti Laaksonen<br />Olavi Lahtinen<br />Raimo Lindholm<br />Pertti Mutru<br />Raine Nuutinen<br />Tapio Pöyhönen<br />Tuomo Ristola<br />Eero Salonen<br />Timo Suviranta<br />Kalevi Sylander<br />Oiva Virtanen
|- align=center
| 9–16 ||align=left| <hr>László Bánhegyi<br />Pál Bogár<br />György Bokor<br />Tibor Cselkó<br />Tibor Czinkán<br />János Greminger<br />László Hódi<br />Ede Komáromi<br />Tibor Mezőfi<br />Péter Papp<br />János Simon<br />György Telegdy<br />Tibor Zsíros
|-align=center
| 9–16 ||align=left| <hr>Rubén Almanza García<br />Carlos José Bru Villarreal<br />Jorge Cardiel Gaytán<br />José de la Cruz Cabrera Gándara<br />Héctor Guerrero Delgado<br />Emilio López Enríquez<br />Filiberto Manzo Hernández<br />José Meneses Luna<br />Sergio Olguín Fierro<br />Fernando Rojas Herrera<br />José Rojas Herera<br />Rolando Rubalcava Peña<br />Pioquinto Soto
|- align=center
| 9–16 ||align=left| <hr>Head Coach: Felicisimo Fajardo<br />Florentino Bautista<br />Ramón Campos<br />Antonio Genato<br />José Gochangco<br />Rafael Hechanova<br />Eduardo Lim<br />Carlos Loyzaga<br />Antonio Luis Martínez<br />Ponciano Saldaña<br />Meliton Santos<br />Antonio Tantay<br />Mariano Tolentino
|- align=center
| 17–23 ||align=left| <hr>Jules Boes<br />Jan Ceulemans<br />Henri Coosemans<br />Henri Crick<br />Yves Delsarte<br />Josef du Jardin<br />Johannes Ducheyne<br />Jef Eygel<br />Désiré Ligon<br />Julien Meuris<br />Félix Roosemont<br />Alexis van Gils<br />Pierre van Huele
|- align=left
| 17–23 ||align=left | <hr>Head Coach: Vladimiros Vallas<br />Stelios Arvanitis <!--Stelios Arvanitis--><small>(Panathinaikos)</small><br />Themistokles Cholevas<small> (Panellinios)</small><br />Ioannis Lambrou <!--Giannis Lambrou, maybe spelt Labrou--><small>(Panathinaikos)</small><br />Panayiotis Manias<small> (Panellinios)</small><br />Phaedon Mathaiou <!--Faidon Matthaiou, Fedon Mattheou--><small>(Panathinaikos)</small><br />Nikolaos Milas <!--Nikos Milas--><small>(Panathinaikos)</small><br />Konstantinos Papadimas<small> (Panellinios)</small><br />Aristidis Roubanis<small> (Panellinios)</small><br />Alexandros Spanoudakis <!--Alekos Spanoudakis--><small>(Olympiacos)</small><br />Ioannis Spanoudakis <!--Giannis Spanoudakis, Jean Spanoudakis--><small>(Olympiacos)</small><br />Dimitrios Stefanidis<small> (Panellinios)</small><br />Dimitrios Taliadoros <!--Takis Taliadoros--><small>(XAN Thessaloniki)</small>
|- align=left
| 17–23 ||align=left| <hr>Head Coach: Tubby Raskin<br>Eliahu Amiel <small>(Hapoel Holon)</small><br />Moshe Daniel-Levy <small>(Hapoel Maayan Barukh)</small><br />Dan Erez-Buxenbaum <small>(Hapoel Tel Aviv)</small><br />Reuben Fecher-Perach <small>(Hapoel Mizra)</small><br />Mordechai-Marcel Hefez <small>(Hapoel Holon)</small><br />Ralph Klein (Raphael Ram) <small>(Maccabi Tel Aviv)</small><br />Menahem Kurman-Degani <small>(Maccabi Tel Aviv)</small><br />Amos Lin-Linkovsky <small>(Hapoel Mishmar Ha'emek)</small><br />Zekarya Ofri <small>(Maccabi Tel Aviv)</small><br />Shimon Shelah-Schmuckler <small>(Hapoel Tel Aviv)</small><br />Abraham Shneior <small>(Maccabi Tel Aviv)</small><br />Yehuda Wiener-Gafni <small>(Maccabi Tel Aviv)</small><hr>Freddie Cohen <small>(Hapoel Holon)</small>
|- align=center
| 17–23 ||align=left| <hr>Giorgio Bongiovanni<br />Achille Canna<br />Carlo Cerioni<br />Giordano Damiani<br />Sergio Ferriani<br />Sergio Marelli<br />Federico Marietti<br />Enrico Pagani<br />Fabio Presca<br />Renzo Ranuzzi<br />Luigi Rapini<br />Sergio Stefanini<br />Dino Zucchi
|- align=center
| 17–23 ||align=left| <hr>Head Coach: Alexandru Popescu<br>Cornel Călugăreanu<br />Gheorghe Constantinide<br />Grigore Costescu<br />Andrei Folbert<br />Ladislau Mokos<br />Liviu Naghi<br />Mihai Nedef<br />Cezar Niculescu<br />Dan Niculescu<br />Adrian Petroşanu<br />Vasile Popescu<br />Emanoil Răducanu<hr>Constantin Herold
|- align=center
| 17–23 ||align=left| <hr>Pierre Albrecht<br />Henri Baumann<br />Marc Bossy<br />René Chiappino<br />Maurice Chollet<br />Gerald Cottier<br />Roger Domenjoz<br />Marcel Moget<br />Roger Prahin<br />Jacques Redard<br />Bernard Schmied<br />Georges Stockly<br />Jean-Pierre Voisin<br />René Wohler
|- align=center
| 17–23 ||align=left| <hr>Yüksel Alkan<br />Altan Dinçer<br />Nejat Diyarbakırlı<br />Yalçın Granit<br />Sadi Gülçelik<br />Yılmaz Gündüz<br />Erdoğan Partener<br />Sacit Seldüz<br />Turhan Tezol<br />Güney Ülmen<br />Ali Uras<br />Mehmet Ali Yalım
|}