Format
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
Read more about this topic: Basketball At The 1980 Summer Olympics