What happens when you’ve disappointed your country for winning the bronze medal?
How do you come back from such humiliation as people expect you to win the gold medal every single time?
This Netflix Sports Documentary released in 2022 entitled “The Redeem Team” showcases how the 2008 US Olympic Men’s Basketball team reclaim the title of being the best in the entire world for the sport of basketball.
And here are some of the reasons why you should watch it:
The Golden Age of USA Basketball
The United States of America has won the most gold olympic medals for the game of basketball. Starting all the way back to 1936 in Berlin, the only time the US failed to secure the gold was during the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.
The final game was between the Americans versus the Soviet Union. Making the 2 Free Throw shots of Doug Collins, people already thought that the game was over as the clock ran out with the US winning another gold but one official suddenly stopped the celebration and said the clock isn’t functioning properly. They added 3 seconds and the Soviet Union made the shot to go up by 1 as the final buzzer sounded. The US settled for silver.
From 1936 to 1988, it was alway been college players representing the Men’s basketball team. But by the time of 1992, the “Dream Team” was made, led by Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
The documentary made enough emphasis on how great the Americans were in being the dominant athletes from the sport they invented.
The Meltdown in Athens, Greece (2004)
This is the real reason why the “Redeem Team” was made in the first place.
As Team USA was led by a very young trio of Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, disappointments and endless criticism was delivered to them when they settled for bronze. They were also with other NBA Hall of Famers like Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson but with LBJ being labeled as “The Chosen One”, all fingers were pointing at the 2nd year man in the league.
Recruitment of the Best: Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski
The Head Coach during the 2004 Olympics, Larry Brown was quickly fired as this was the first move of newly appointed Managing Director of Team USA, Jerry Colangelo.
Jerry was able to handle the NBA team of Phoenix Suns which at that time, also had success. During 2005, he wanted to have the most respected basketball coach possible, not the most successful one in the NBA but in the collegiate ranks. Enter the multi-champion coach of Duke University, Mike Kryzewski. Coach K’s job was not just to handle the team during the 2008 Beijing, China Olympics but to create continuity in the program of US Basketball.
Throughout the 1 hour 38 minutes Docu-Film, Coach K did not only fulfill his duties of winning back the gold but rather giving the American squad an identity.
Operation: Black Mamba
Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James all showed flashes of greatness during their 2004 Olympic debut, but it was clear the team needed veteran leadership. Enter, Kobe Bean Bryant, aka The Black Mamba.
It was clear for Kobe that the expectation why he was brought in by Coach K was because of his experience and mentality. Plus, he also wanted the world to know that he can win on the big stage without his former co-star, Shaquille O’Neal. Indeed, Kobe shouldered most of the defensive responsibility guarding the opposing teams’ best players.
A lot of questions were thrown as if the two Alphas, Kobe and LeBron, can co-exist with one another under one team. It took 3 major basketball tournaments for the public to find the answer to that question.
From the 2006 FIBA World Championship at Japan, The 2007 FIBA Americas Championship at Las Vegas and the 2008 Olympics at Beijing, China all showed what the duo of the Black Mamba and King James would turn out to be.
From Individual Stars to Team Players
The notion that a lot of basketball fans made was that NBA players are great one-on-one players, but never were great team players. Coach K changed that.
From 2005 to 2008, Coach K handled a bunch of superstars that had high ego and pride among themselves. From building chemistry and making the necessary adjustments, the result of participating in 3 FIBA events was able to give Team USA reclaim their lost glory. The Documentary was able to focus on how the remaining players of the 2004 team develop and gain their peak version of themselves. Along with them are some of the best guards that were in the NBA which are: Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Deron Williams. The team also had great bigs which were Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard while adding decent off the bench players with Tayshaun Prince and Michael Redd as they all contributed to the teams’ success.
They’ve lost some games and even won a bronze again in some of the tournaments they joined but one thing is for sure, Coach K had trusted his system and his players to become basketball legends.
