Inside Serbia's basketball team: A complete roster and more to know about 2024 Olympics team

Bill Bender

Inside Serbia's basketball team: A complete roster and more to know about 2024 Olympics team image

Serbia – a two-time silver medalist in men’s basketball – will take its shot at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris with a roster that features Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic. 

That continues with a matchup against the United States in the semifinals on Thursday.

Team USA beat Serbia 110-84 in group play of the tournament. Does Serbia offer a real challenge in the knockout round? Will it make a run at another medal? Those are real questions heading into the rematch.

A look inside Serbia's men's basketball team. 

MORE: Nikola Jokic shows off new look ahead of 2024 Olympics

Serbia men's basketball roster at 2024 Olympics 

The Serbian roster features four players who currently play in the NBA. That includes Jokic, a six-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA MVP award winner who led Denver to the NBA championship in the 2022-23 season. Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists last season. 

Bogdanovic averaged 16.9 points per game for Atlanta last season. A 2014 first-round pick, Bogdanovic is a 38.4 percent career shooter from 3-point range. 

Nikola Jovic averaged 7.7 points in 46 games for Miami last season, and Vasilije Micic averaged 7.0 points in 60 games for the Hornets. Marko Guduric, who played for Memphis in 2019-20, rounds out the starting five for Serbia. 

NO.POSNAMEHTTEAMLEAGUE
0CUros Plavsic7-1KK Crvena zvezdaSerbian League
3F/CFilip Petrusev6-11OlympiacosGreece
5PFNikola Jovic6-10Miami HeatNBA
7SGBogdan Bogdanovic6-5Atlanta HawksNBA
9SGVanja Marinkovic6-6KK PartizanEuro League
13SFOgnjen Dobric6-7KK Crvena zvezdaSerbian League
15CNikola Jokic6-11Denver NuggetsNBA
22PGVasilije Micic6-3Charlotte HornetsNBA
23G/FMarko Guduric6-6FenerbahceEuro League
27FDejan Davidovac6-8KK Crvena zvezdaSerbian League
30PGAleska Avramovic6-4KK PartizanEuro League
33CNikola Milutinov7-0OlympiacosGreece

MORE: Why Joel Embiid isn't USA's best answer for Nikola Jokic

Serbia basketball coaches

Svetislav Pesic – a renowned international coach – has been the coach for the Serbian national team since 2021. He was the coach for FR Yugoslavia when that team won the World Cup in 2002. 

How Serbia reached the Olympics

Serbia qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics with an impressive showing in the 2023 World Cup. Serbia finished 6-2, won the silver medal and was the second-highest qualifying team from Europe. 

Germany beat Serbia 83-77 in the championship game. Serbia defeated Lithuania 87-68 and Canada 95-86 to advance to the gold-medal game. 

That strong showing created optimism despite a tough pool play schedule in Paris.

MORE: How to watch every 2024 Olympics basketball game

Serbia Olympic basketball schedule 

Serbia was in Pool C in the men's basketball tournament. The other teams in Pool C were South Sudan, Puerto Rico and the United States. 

Serbia defeated Australia in overtime to advance to the semifinals.

RoundResult
Group playUnited States 110, Serbia 84
Group playSerbia 107, Puerto Rico 66
Group playSerbia 96, South Sudan 85
QuarterfinalsSerbia 95, Australia 90
SemifinalsUnited States vs. Serbia

History of Serbia basketball teams in the Olympics 

Serbia was part of Yugoslavia through the 1988 Summer Olympics, and the country was suspended from the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. 

This marks the fifth time Serbia has participated in men’s basketball in the Summer Olympics. Under the name FR Yugoslavia, the team reached the gold-medal game in 1996 before losing to the United States 95-69. 

Serbia reached the quarterfinals in 2000 and failed to advance past the group stage in 2004. In 2016, Serbia again made the gold-medal game and lost 96-66 to the United States. Jokic, who was 21 that year, scored six points in the loss.

YEARRECORDPLACE
19967-1Silver
20004-36th
20042-411th
20164-4Silver

Bill Bender

Bill Bender Photo

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.