Nobody said it was going to be easy for the USA men's basketball team to reclaim their standing as the sports indomitable force in the world. And, although it sure seemed like it would be through the first week of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the spanish national team proved that point in its gutsy performance in the gold medal game on Friday.
Of course it wouldn't be easy, if it was a sure bet, then the U.S. would not have gone eight years without a world crown. Maybe it was the disrespect, the doubting, the derision and comparison to 1992's Dream Team.
Whatever it was, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and company finally found the motivation to compete at a high level and remove any doubts about who is the world's best. Sure, the gap between the United States and the rest of the world may have gotten smaller over the past decade, but this Olympics re-established the fact that there is indeed a gap.
Proving that the gap still existed was as much an exercise in proving something to themselves as it was to anyone else in the world. Often cited as me-first players who care only about endorsements and contracts, the American players rallied together in what may have been the most important international tournament ever played by an American team. Lose this one and they would have had to have gone at least a dozen years without a set of gold medals. It was something the players considered unthinkable, and it was their pride, coupled with strong management and coaching that returned them to their lofty world perch.
For the jaded NBA fan, or even the casual viewer, there was something uplifting, surprisingly so, about seeing this team of multi-millionaires come together to take home gold. They said all summer, and in the time since the team had been roughly formed, that playing for their country was important. But it was hard for us to believe, and hard to imagine they really even believed it themselves, but after seeing them defeat Spain 118-107 in a thrilling game that may have lacked a little defense, there could be no doubt that the Americans' hearts were in this tournament from the start.
Between the p layers jumping into the stands to acknowledge Doug Collins, he of the 1972 team that was robbed of gold, to their draping all of their medals on Coach K and his assistants, it was obvious that this game and those gold medals meant more to the U.S. than it ever has.
"People talk about NBA players being selfish, being arrogant, being individuals," Kobe Bryant said. "What you saw today was a team bonding together, facing adversity and coming out of here with a big win."
Those are words NBA players usually reserve for NBA Finals games, and, indeed, this tournament seemed to have that significance for many of its players. Consider the fact that most of the men on this team will never hold the Larry O'Brien Trophy, and you realize that they understood that this could be the pinnacle of their careers, hence the words in which they talked about the epic struggle following the game.
"The intensity was unbelievable," LeBron James said. "Every possession counted, for all 40 minutes. Every rebound counted, every pass, every shot, every defensive possession, every offensive possession.
"This will probably go down in history as one of the greatest Olympic games ever."
Considering the Americans had beaten every team by at least 20 points, you almost expected that this gold medal game could be a trap game. But the importance of this game was much greater than just this final score. It was about redeeming the image of US men's basketball. Sure, people called them the "Redeem Team" throughout the Olympics, but the moniker just seemed hokey until you saw tears running down the players' faces following the game.
Sure this team has the greatest collection of star talent since 1992, and arguably on par with that team, but nobody was going to fully believe in American hoops again until they saw a team come together, subjugate their individual desires, focus, show humility and re-learn how to be champions. In China, they did just that.
"If it wasn't for the determination and willpower we had, we wouldn't be back on top of the world, which is where we are," said James.
It should be interesting to see how the world's best players take their newfound commitment back to their home league. If their drive in international play is any indication, we could be in for one hell of an NBA season in 2008-2009.
