The 1997 Oceania Basketball Championship , the 13th Oceania Basketball Championship , took place between June 1 and 4, 1997 in Wellington and Palmerston North , New Zealand , which hosted the championship for the eighth time. The winner was the national team of Australia , which could win the title for the 13th time. In the finals was New Zealand are clearly beaten. For the fourth time and so far for the last time another team took part in the tournament apart from Australia and New Zealand. It was New Caledonia's first participation in the tournament.
Initially, the game was played in a group stage. Each team played against each other once, so that each team played exactly two games (a total of three games were played). There were two points for each win and one point for a defeat. In the event of a tie, the direct comparison decided . The two teams with the best points moved into the final and played for the tournament victory.