1948 London Olympics The Great Britain national team debuted as the host for the
1948 London Olympics. The team was placed into Group A to begin the
tournament. Although with the advantage of being at home on their side, the team did not capitalise. Great Britain were thoroughly outplayed in their first fixture against
Uruguay, and eventually finished last in group play at (0–5). The outcome relegated the national team to the classification round. There they recorded their first tournament victory against
Ireland, but fell in their next two matches, to wrap up the event at (1–7) overall.
1960–1992 Olympic Qualifying After hosting the 1948 Olympic Games, Great Britain were not represented at the
Olympic tournament in 1952 or 1956, due to
FIBA and the
IOC not having a qualifying event. Although spanning from 1960 to 1992, Great Britain failed to qualify for the competition.
British Basketball formed 2006 After London won the right to host the
2012 Summer Olympics, the organisers wanted competitive teams in every sport, including basketball. A Great Britain side was formed for the first time since 1992, on 1 December 2006. The national team secured the help of the
NBA's
Chicago Bulls' star
Luol Deng, as he led Great Britain to promotion from
EuroBasket Division B to Division A. FIBA stated that Great Britain had to improve their competitiveness prior to being granted the spot in the Olympic tournament that would normally be reserved for the host nation.
EuroBasket 2009 at the
EuroBasket 2009 In Great Britain's first cycle at the Division A level in 2008, they went through qualification for the
EuroBasket 2009. The team would eventually finish on top of
Group D, which also included
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Czech Republic and
Israel to qualify for the finals. At the first Euro finals for Great Britain after the formation of
British Basketball, the national team were drawn into a tough
Group C, which featured European heavyweights
Spain, and
Serbia along with a feisty
Slovenia squad. However, the team was overmatched by the international experience those national sides possessed, and ultimately finished at the bottom of the group at (0–3) to be eliminated.
EuroBasket 2011 During August 2010, Great Britain began their qualification campaign for
EuroBasket 2011. The team was drawn into
Group B, containing Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Hungary,
Macedonia, and
Ukraine. Great Britain went on to finish at the top of the group, and qualified for their second appearance at the finals overall. Heading into their second Euro finals appearance, the British were determined to display a better performance than in 2009. Being drawn into the tournament's
Group A, the mindset was different this time around. Many of the players from the previous finals appearance had more experience, which the team used as optimism entering 2011. In the opening match for Great Britain, they were pitted against the host
Lithuania. However, Luol Deng, and his game high 25 points for the British was not enough to pull the upset as the team fell to (0–1). Following Great Britain's tough opening match loss to the Lithuanians, the British were handed two heavy defeats in their next two fixtures against
Turkey, and Spain. However, heading into their fourth match of group play Team GB would earn their first ever victory at the Euro finals, as they defeated
Portugal 85–73. 24 hours after their first win, the team turned around and were victorious again; this time over
Poland 88–81. Unfortunately, at a record of (2–3) in group play it would not be enough for Great Britain to advance.
2012 London Olympics defended by
Kobe Bryant, in a friendly match before the 2012 Games On 13 March 2011, FIBA voted 17–3 in favour of Great Britain receiving their host nation spot at the
2012 London Olympics with one condition, they had until 30 June 2012 to decide on whether to merge the three nations that make up the team or disband after the
2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. On 21 June 2012, Basketball Wales confirmed their intent to reject the proposed merger on the grounds that the arrangement was always intended to be temporary in the build-up to the London Olympics, and that it would not be in the best interests for the sport in Wales for the country to forfeit its national team, when the GB team contained no Welsh players. For the
2012 Olympic Games, Great Britain was awarded automatic qualification. Entering the group stage, Great Britain struggled in their first two matches against
Russia and
Brazil, which resulted in loses. In Great Britain's third match of the tournament, they were up against a strong
Spain side. However, after a monumental effort from the British, which nearly saw the team pull off a historic upset; they would ultimately succumb to the eventual tournament runners-up 79–78. After the draining loss, Great Britain were completely overwhelmed in their fourth fixture of the tournament; in a disastrous defeat to
Australia 75–106. In their final group play game, Great Britain faced
China, with both teams already unable to progress to the knockout stage. Team GB would win the game 90–58, making it only the second Olympic victory all-time for Great Britain. Throughout the tournament British star
Luol Deng played 173 minutes, more than any other player and also came in the top ten for points and assists.
EuroBasket 2013 In June 2013,
Brooklyn Nets assistant coach
Joe Prunty was announced as the new head coach of the national team, following the resignation of
Chris Finch. Having participated in the previous Olympic tournament, Great Britain qualified automatically for
EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia. They went into the finals short-handed:
Luol Deng was recovering from illness,
Pops Mensah-Bonsu did not participate due to an injury and
Joel Freeland was also absent, citing commitments with his club. Despite this, Great Britain won their first match against
Israel in overtime, but subsequently lost to
France and
Belgium. Winning their fourth group game against favoured
Germany put them on the verge of advancing to the second round of the tournament for the first time in their history. The team went into their final group game against
Ukraine needing to win, but Ukraine had been performing better than expected and dispatched Britain 87–68. The team finished equaling their record from the
previous tournament, with
Daniel Clark leading Great Britain in scoring and defence. Following their tournament exit, it was announced that the governing body for British sports,
UK Sport, were to cut the funding for the team after failing to reach the agreed-upon minimum final placing in the tournament. Funding from UK Sport would have been used to aid the team's efforts to qualify for the
2016 Summer Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro.
EuroBasket 2015 qualification For
qualification to the
2015 Euro finals, a defeat to
Iceland on 20 August meant that the team had failed to qualify for the tournament. This outcome was largely attributed to
British Basketball no longer receiving funding from
UK Sport; efficiencies had to be made, including cancelling training camps. Further, the team was unable to secure the participation of players such as
Luol Deng due to insurance costs, which in turn affected performance, and put the future of the Great Britain team in doubt. Forward
Kieron Achara spoke out about how the financial struggles had affected the team.
EuroBasket 2017 After missing the Euro finals in 2015, Great Britain were eager to qualify for
EuroBasket 2017. During the qualifiers, the team was placed into
Group G, where they needed to finish in the top two in their group to reach qualification. The team eventually succeeded in the process, only finishing behind
Hungary, to reach the tournament for the fourth time. At the finals, Great Britain were drawn in the "group of death" with
Belgium,
Latvia,
Russia,
Serbia, and one of the tournament hosts,
Turkey. Despite some close performances, GB lost all five of their matches to finish at the bottom of
Group D. After the tournament
Tony Garbelotto took over as head coach of the national team from
Joe Prunty.
2019 FIBA World Cup qualification For the process to reach the
2019 FIBA World Cup, Great Britain was placed into
Group H during the first round of World Cup qualifiers. However, in their first match at home against
Greece, the team would fall in a crushing hard fought affair in overtime 92–95. In their next qualifying fixture, the team would drop another one, on the road this time at
Estonia. After the loss,
Tony Garbelotto resigned as head coach of Great Britain, and was replaced by Alberto Lorenzo, prior to their next match which they lost at
Israel; during the February qualifying window. With an (0–3) record, the team prepared for Greece once again, this time on the road. Although the outcome was similar, another loss for Great Britain, and putting the team in serious danger of being eliminated. Heading into the final window of the first round of qualifiers, the team notched their first victory during World Cup qualifying at home against Estonia. With a little momentum on their side, all the team needed to do was defeat Israel in the final match of group play. Ultimately, the team would come up short, losing in a close match at home 59–67, erasing any chance for Great Britain to advance.
2020s–present After Great Britain successfully made it through
pre-qualifying for the
EuroBasket 2022, at an overall record of (7–1), the team advanced to the final round of
qualifiers. Following a defeat in their opening fixture away to
Montenegro 81–74, Great Britain earned a tough victory at home against
Germany 81–73. The team went on to win three of their next four matches during the qualifying period, including a second win over Germany, which came at the buzzer to clinch a place into the finals. Drawn into
Group C at the tournament, however, Great Britain would go winless for the second consecutive EuroBasket to finish in last place. The underwhelming play for Great Britain would carry over to their
World Cup qualifying campaign for the
2023 FIBA World Cup. They would compile a (1–9) record during the process and failed to qualify. Following the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup, Great Britain entered
EuroBasket 2025 qualifying, where they went on to secure qualification with a record of (4–2), to make their fourth successive appearance on the European stage. However, at the
finals placed in
Group B, disastrous performances in four out of their five group stage fixtures eliminated any possibility to advance. Their only victory came in their last Group B match against Montenegro 83–89, which was Great Britain's first win at the event since 2013. In October 2025, a month after the tournament concluded, scandal hit British basketball, as the federation, along with the men's national team was suspended by FIBA from international competition due to "governance issues". After a month of deliberation, meeting with stakeholders in the UK, FIBA eventually lifted their ban against the national team in November 2025. ==Competitive record==