Before Slovenia's independence in 1991, Slovenian players represented
Yugoslavia. Slovenia joined the
International Basketball Federation in 1992 and played its first official game on 22 June 1992 against
Bulgaria in the qualification rounds for the
1992 Summer Olympics.
FIBA World Cup Slovenia debuted at the
FIBA Basketball World Cup in
2006 after qualifying as the sixth-placed team of the
EuroBasket 2005. In the
2010,
2014 and
2023 editions, Slovenia reached the quarter-finals; their highest overall finish is seventh place, achieved in 2014 and 2023.
EuroBasket Between May and June 1993, Slovenia competed in the qualifiers for the
EuroBasket 1993, where the team won all seven games and therefore qualified for its first
EuroBasket. At the main tournament, held in Germany, Slovenia finished in 14th place out of 16 teams with one win and two defeats. Slovenia did not reach the knockout stages of the competition until the 2005 edition, where the team, coached by
Aleš Pipan, reached the quarter-finals for the first time. In the next two tournaments, in
2011 and
2013, Slovenia was eliminated in the quarter-finals by
Spain and
France, respectively. In
2015, Slovenia failed to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since the
2003 edition after losing to
Latvia in the round of 16. At
EuroBasket 2017, Slovenia, captained by
Goran Dragić and managed by
Igor Kokoškov, won the championship after winning nine consecutive games, including victories against the 2013 winners France and the 2015 winners Spain. Dragić, who scored 35 points in the final against Serbia, was named the
most valuable player of the tournament.
2020 Summer Olympics Slovenia qualified for the
men's basketball tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics after competing in the
2020 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, winning the
tournament in Kaunas. They won all games in the
Group B, defeating
Poland and
Angola. In the
Final round, they defeated
Venezuela 98–70, and qualified for the final against
Lithuania. Slovenia defeated Lithuania 96–85 in
Kaunas, led by
Luka Dončić (31 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists), who with his triple-double sent Slovenia to their first Olympic appearance. Dončić was also proclaimed as the MVP of the tournament. With his 48 points in this game, Dončić tied with
Eddie Palubinskas for the second highest points scored in a match in the history of the Olympics. In the next game Slovenia defeated host Japan 116–81. In the final match of the group stage, Slovenia faced Spain, the reigning world champions, and beat them 95–87.
Mike Tobey, who was named player of the day by FIBA, recorded a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while
Klemen Prepelič scored the crucial three-pointer that put Slovenia ahead 86–85 two and a half minutes before the end. The win gave them the group's top seed, and they were set to face
Germany in the quarter-finals. Slovenia won their quarter-final, defeating Germany 94–70. Slovenia then lost the dramatic semi-final against France by one point, 90–89. In the last seconds of the game,
Nicolas Batum blocked Prepelič's layup attempt, thus preventing Slovenia from reaching the final. In the
bronze medal game, Slovenia played against
Australia, and lost 107–93. Thus, the team finished its inaugural Olympic tournament in fourth place, and Dončić was selected in the All-Star Team of the tournament. ==Competitive record==