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Of all the American storylines at the 2008 Beijing Olympics — from Michael Phelps’ record-breaking quest for gold to Dara Torres’ incredible 41-year-old body — the most unbelievable just might be that of the USA Basketball Senior Men’s National Team.
Despite inventing the game of basketball and dominating international competition for nearly its entire history, the United States has something to prove on the hardwood at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.
After two relatively easy, highlight-filled victories, over China and Angola, respectively, the team appears to be on the right track, but still far from the ultimate destination. The difficult stretch of the schedule is still to come:
Aug. 10 – China (W, 101–70)
Aug. 12 – Angola (W, 97–76)
Aug. 14 – Greece (8 a.m. ET)
Aug. 16 – Spain (10 a.m. ET)
Aug. 18 – Germany (8 a.m. ET)
Aug. 20 – Quarterfinals
Aug. 22 – Semifinals
Aug. 24 – Gold Medal Game
Reoccurring Dream
The “Redeem Team,” as they’ve been dubbed, has been given the same task as the original “Dream Team” of the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. Following extremely disappointing bronze medal finishes in 1988 and 2004, Team USA’s basketball program reconfigured its entire Olympic philosophy in order to reclaim the gold medal.
The first time around, that meant scrapping the college kids and enlisting NBA players for the first time in history. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler and Chris Mullen were joined by two-time Duke champ Christian Laettner to form the one and only Dream Team — easily the greatest collection of basketball talent ever assembled.
Treated like royalty, M.J., Magic, Bird and Co. crushed their opponents by an average of 43.8 points per game — defeating a star-studded Croatia team featuring Toni Kukoc, Drazen Petrovic and Dino Radja, 117–85, in the Gold Medal Game (before signing autographs for their opponents). The Dream Team was so dominant, coach Chuck Daly never called a timeout during Olympic competition, as his squad more than lived up to the unprecedented hype.
“ ‘Dream Team’ is a lot of name to live up to. But, if anything, the 1992 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team exceeded all hopes and expectations,” wrote Daly, in his book “America’s Dream Team: The Quest for Olympic Gold” (co-written by Alex Sachare).
“I think we truly gave the world a glimpse — only a glimpse, since we were never seriously challenged — of what basketball can be like at its highest level.”
But the Dream Team did more than win gold by a wide margin; they transcended sport with a still-unmatched combination of style and substance. In short, the Dream Team turned basketball into a truly international sport. And now, the 2008 Redeem Team has some real competition — thanks to the world’s love affair with the 1992 Dream Team.
LeBronze in Athens
Following the Dream Team, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics saw “Dream Team 2” — a group that included five original members (Barkley, Pippen, Stockton, Malone and Robinson). The first spin-off of the Dream Team retained the gold, winning by an average margin of 32.3 points per game, including a 95–69 victory over a Vlade Divac-led Yugoslavia in the Gold Medal Game.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Vince Carter jumping over people and Kevin Garnett yelling after every rebound distracted American hoops fans from what was really going on — the rest of the world was catching up with USA basketball. The latest collection of NBA All-Stars avoided losing to Lithuania in the semifinals, 85–83, thanks to a missed last-second 3-pointer by future NBA guard Sarunas Jasikevicius. Then, in the Gold Medal Game, Team USA escaped with a closely-contested 85–75 win over France.
Regardless of the golden outcome in Atlanta and Sydney, it was becoming evident that the international landscape had changed. Kids who wanted to “Be Like Mike” after the Dream Team in 1992 were all grown up and ready to challenge the country who apparently took the men’s basketball Olympic gold medal as a birth right.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, the tide finally turned. An Argentina team led by NBA stars Manu Ginobili, Fabricio Oberto, Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino and Andres Nocioni defeated the USA, 89–81, in the semifinals. Thankfully, coach Larry Brown’s team, which included first-time Olympians Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson, was able to capture the bronze medal with a 104–96 win over Lithuania in the consolation prize game.
Prior to 2004, the U.S. Senior National Team had only lost twice since basketball became an official Olympic medal sport in 1936. Both losses came at the hands of the Cold War rival Soviet Union, with a controversial 51–50 loss in the Gold Medal Game of the 1972 Munich Olympics and an 82–76 defeat in the semifinals of the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
But the 2004 team lost three times in eight games — a rock bottom record-19-point loss to Puerto Rico in the opener, followed by losses to Lithuania and Argentina.
Upon returning to the states, LeBron James — previously known only as “King James” — was given the nickname “LeBronze” after his team’s third-place finish in Athens. The moniker was unfair, due to Coach Brown’s reluctance to use his then-19-year-old superstar. But by attaching the bronze to LeBron, the point was driven home.
On the basketball court, America has not and will not settle for anything less than gold.
| Year | Olympic city |
Medal | USA coach |
School/Team |
| 2004 2000 1996 1992 1988 1984 1980 1976 1972 1968 1964 1960 1956 1952 1948 1936 |
Athens, Greece Sydney, Australia Atlanta, USA Barcelona, Spain Seoul, South Korea Los Angeles, USA Moscow, Soviet Union Montreal, Canada Munich, Germany Mexico City, Mexico Tokyo, Japan Rome, Italy Melbourne, Australia Helsinki, Finland London, England Berlin, Germany |
Bronze Gold Gold Gold Bronze Gold - Gold Silver Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold |
Larry Brown Rudy Tomjanovich Lenny Wilkens Chuck Daly John Thompson Bob Knight - Dean Smith Henry Iba Henry Iba Henry Iba Pete Newell Gerald Tucker Warren Womble Omar Browning James Needles |
Detroit Pistons Houston Rockets Atlanta Hawks New Jersey Nets Georgetown Indiana - North Carolina Oklahoma State Oklahoma State Oklahoma State California Bartlesville Phillips 66ers Peoria Caterpillars Bartlesville Phillips 66ers Universal Pictures of Calif. |
Overall, the United States has earned 12 gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals, while choosing not to accept the controversial 1972 silver and not to attend the politically-charged 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Redemption Song
Hearing the United States’ National Anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” played following a win in the Gold Medal Game on Aug. 24 will be especially sweet music to the ears of James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Carlos Boozer — the only four carryovers from the 2004 squad.
Following the Greek tragedy in Athens, there was an overhaul of Team USA, starting at the very top. Four-time NBA Executive of the Year Jerry Colangelo became the managing director of the USA Basketball Senior Men’s National Team. In his first move, Colangelo hired three-time NCAA Tournament champion coach Mike Krzyzewski, who was a Dream Team assistant coach and also a player for 1984 gold-medal winning coach Bob Knight while at Army (1966-69), as well as the coach at Duke since 1980.
Then, Colangelo and Coach K selected a pool of players to compete for a chance to wear the Red, White and Blue jersey as a member of the National Team. In order to be considered, however, players had to give a three-summer commitment to the team, in order to build chemistry on the court and camaraderie away from the gym.
Following the process — which included no invite for 2004 captain Iverson, a standing invitation to Shaq and a ‘thanks but no thanks’ reaction from Tim Duncan and K.G. — the final 2008 Redeem Team roster was selected, with input from USA assistant coaches Mike D’Antoni, Nate McMillan and Jim Boeheim.
| # | Player | Height | Weight | NBA team |
Age |
| 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 |
Carlos Boozer Jason Kidd LeBron James Deron Williams Michael Redd Dwyane Wade Kobe Bryant Dwight Howard Chris Bosh Chris Paul Tayshaun Prince Carmelo Anthony |
6'9" 6'4" 6'8" 6'3" 6'6" 6'4" 6'6" 6'11" 6'10" 6'0" 6'9" 6'8" |
265 210 250 205 215 215 205 265 230 175 215 230 |
Utah Jazz Dallas Mavericks Cleveland Cavaliers Utah Jazz Milwaukee Bucks Miami Heat Los Angeles Lakers Orlando Magic Toronto Raptors New Orleans Hornets Detroit Pistons Denver Nuggets |
26 35 23 24 28 26 29 22 24 23 28 24 |
The roster includes the 2008 regular season MVP Kobe Bryant, the 2006 Finals MVP Dwyane Wade, three NBA champions with a combined five rings (Bryant- 3, Wade- 1 and Tayshaun Prince- 1), an NCAA champ (Carmelo Anthony) and the tallest Slam Dunk champion in history (Dwight Howard).
Global Marketing
With nearly 1.5 billion consumers living in the People’s Republic of China, this year’s Summer Olympics is a golden marketing opportunity — especially for James and Bryant, whose international appeal (along with the recent European defections of several NBA players) has caused both to be rumored as possible $50 million per year expatriates, if and when they test the free agent waters.
Even before the opening ceremony, King James had already started taking Mandarin lessons in an attempt to communicate directly with the estimated 885 million Chinese who use the world’s most-spoken language. LeBron’s billion-dollar dreams of becoming “more than just a basketball player” will take giant steps (for better or worse) during his time in Beijing this summer.
Meanwhile, Bryant is making his first appearance at the Olympics, serving as the team’s go-to defensive stopper. Although Yao Ming is China’s most celebrated athlete, it is Kobe’s No. 24 jersey that is the top-seller among Chinese fans.
Golden Oldie
The oldest member of Team USA, 35-year-old point guard Jason Kidd, is also the only player with an Olympic gold medal in his trophy case. Kidd was a member of the 2000 squad in Sydney and is undefeated in international competition.
Stability at the point guard position is something that the 2004 National Team did not have — as Wade, Iverson and, as hard to believe as it may be, Stephon Marbury, were the only guards on the roster. While all three were talented combo-guards, none were true pass-first point guards, something the Redeem Team has plenty of.
Along with Kidd, Team USA also has Chris Paul and Deron Williams on the bench. Against China and Angola, Coach K started Kidd before subbing Paul and Williams as a duo, with Paul serving as the primary ball-handler and distributor.
Flashback
The sixth man and leading scorer through two games, D-Wade appears to be the personification of what the Redeem Team is about. Known as Flash when he was Shaq’s sidekick (or was it the other way around?), Wade struggled through shoulder and knee injuries over the past two seasons and is out to prove that he is still the same dynamic player who was Finals MVP just two seasons ago.
Wearing Jordan’s old No. 9 jersey and a new slick look like Mike, Team USA’s electric spark off the bench has been high-flying so far, throwing down one-handed windmills on alley-oops and backwards two-handers on breakaways. The ultimate outlet target, Wade has also shot the ball exceptionally well, hitting a combined 13-of-15 shots from the field (including 2-of-3 from 3-point range) and 10-of-12 from the free throw line, while posting identical 19-point games against both China and Angola.
Language Barrier
While the Heat star with a chip on his shoulder has been on fire so far, the rest of the Redeem Team has not shot the ball well — especially from beyond the arc. Team USA is a combined 12-of-45 (or 26.7 percent) from 3-point range, against China (7-of-24) and Angola (5-of-21).
Bryant, in particular, has been ice cold — going 1-of-7 from downtown against China and then 0-of-8 from the closer international distance (20’6.1”) versus Angola. The team’s designated sharpshooter, lefty Michael Redd, has been off-and-on, hitting 3-of-7 from 3 against China but missing both attempts in the Angola game.
Team USA’s outside shooting remains an issue worth watching. But from inside the arc, the Redeem Team has connected on 64-of-93 (or 68.8 percent) of their shot attempts — which have been mostly dunks.
Interior depth and foul trouble are also concerns for Coach K’s team. The international limit of five fouls (compared to the NBA’s six fouls before ejection) could become a problem if the roster’s one true center, Dwight Howard, picks up early fouls. Backups Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer are both All-Stars, but do not play with the same physical style as the youngest (22) and strongest player on the Redeem Team.
Don’t be surprised to see Team USA go small, possibly even with LeBron at center, if Howard does run into early foul trouble. The trapezoidal lane in the Olympics, along with the shorter 3-point line, is the great equalizer. Where the NBA has gone to a post-up, kick out and re-post style of halfcourt offense, the international game relies more on ball movement and knocking down open shots.
Beijing Bracket
Up next, the Redeem Team gets a shot at revenge against Greece, a team that defeated Team USA 101–95 in the semifinals of the 2006 FIBA World Championships in Japan.
The Greeks are expected to be the toughest challenge to date, but are not nearly as talented as Spain — a roster featuring Pau Gasol, Rudy Fernandez, Jose Calderon, Marc Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro and 17-year-old point guard Ricky Rubio, who is expected to be a Top-10 pick in next year’s NBA Draft.
Finally, Team USA wraps up the preliminary round against a German team that features 2007 MVP Dirk Nowitzki and 7-footer Chris Kaman.
| Group A | Group B |
| Argentina Australia Croatia Iran Lithuania Russia |
Angola China Germany Greece Spain USA |
After the preliminary round of Group play, eight teams will advance to the Quarterfinals (Aug. 20), with the four winners moving on to the Semifinals (Aug. 22).
From there, the two winning teams will compete in the Gold Medal Game (Aug. 24) at Wukesong Basketball Arena, while the two semifinal losers play for the bronze medal — which this year, won’t be “LeBronze” if the Redeem Team lives up to its name.
