Qualification
An NOC may enter up to one men's team with 12 players and up to one women's team with 12 players. Automatic qualifications were granted to the host country for both events, plus the winning team at the 1978 FIBA World Championship and the Olympic champions in the men's tournament. The remaining spots were decided by corresponding continental qualifying tournaments for the men's competition, and in a tournament held months before the Olympic Games in Varna, Bulgaria for the women's event.
Women
- a Withdrew from the tournament.
- b Replacement teams.
Men's tournament:
- Three round-robin groups of four teams were formed, where the top two from each one advanced to the final round, and the remaining teams to the classification round.
- Both the final and classification round groups consisted of another round-robin of six teams each where results between teams from the same preliminary group were carried over. The top two teams from the final round competed for the gold medal, while third and fourth places for bronze.
- With the exception of the first four places, the final standings were decided by the corresponding places in each group.
Women's tournament:
- One round-robin group is formed containing all six teams, where the top two compete for the gold medal, while the third and fourth places compete for the bronze medal in an additional match.
- The remaining two teams finish with their group rank in the final standings.
Tie-breaking criteria:
- Head to head results
- Goal average (not the goal difference) between the tied teams
- Goal average of the tied teams for all teams in its group
Men's Tournament
Classification round
Results between Poland vs. Senegal, Australia vs. Sweden and Czechoslovakia vs. India were carried over from the preliminary round.
Final round
The first two places in the preliminary group compete for the gold medal, while the third and fourth places compete for the bronze. The remaining teams' group ranking determines their positions in the final standings. The host nation failed to compete for the gold in spite of finishing the preliminary round undefeated, due to losses against the other two group leaders Yugoslavia and especially Italy, since the result from that match served as tiebreaker, giving the latter a passport to the gold medal match. The Soviet Union then won the bronze against Spain. Yugoslavia earned their first and only gold medal in men's basketball at this Olympic Games.
Results from Yugoslavia vs. Spain, Italy vs. Cuba and Soviet Union vs. Brazil were carried over from the preliminary round.
| Competed for the gold medal |
| Competed for the bronze medal |
Medal matches
Bronze Medal
Gold Medal
Women's Tournament
The women's tournament was decided in a round robin group with all six teams. The first two places competed for the gold medal, while the third and fourth places for the bronze. The remaining teams retain their group ranks for the final standings. The host nation finished the group phase undefeated and won the gold against Bulgaria. Yugoslavia would go on to win the bronze medal against Hungary.
| Competed for the gold medal |
| Competed for the bronze medal |
Medal matches
Bronze Medal
Gold Medal
References
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Tournaments |
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Qualifications | |
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Squads | |
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