Amerykańsko-radzieckie wymiany koszykarskie… jako przypadek z pogranicza pozytywnej i negatywnej dyplomacji sportowej

The aim of the article is to investigate basketball exchanges between United States and SovietUnion from the perspective of sports diplomacy. The research is directed at determining itssignificance in affecting political relation between the two states.In the article, an attempt to answer three research questions was made. The first one iswhether USA–USSR basketball diplomacy served only the rapprochement between thecountries, or at the same time to use sports victories in order to prove their superiority,combining positive and negative sports diplomacy. The other research questions are: werethe exchanges particularly in basketball appropriate concerning its diplomatic purpose,and whether basketball diplomacy was reflecting or creating the state of Soviet–Americanrelations.Key words: USA and USSR relations, sports diplomacy, basketball diplomacy