“Redeem” team wins gold
Posted by: admin in Beijing Olympics 2008, tags: basketball, Beijing Olympics 2008, gold, redeem team“That’ll probably go down as one of the greatest Olympic games ever,” LeBron James said after Team USA’s thrilling 118-107 victory over Spain earned it the gold medal Sunday.
The moment he received his medal, James reached down, grabbed it and stared at it. He held it inches from his eyes and just gazed at it, transfixed. And when they handed him a bouquet of red roses, he held them to his nose and inhaled two huge breaths, the sweet smell of victory filling his nostrils and lungs.
Carmelo Anthony wiped a tear from his right eye as they raised the American flag above the court and played the U.S. national anthem, and Kobe Bryant sang along as James stood nearby, stone-faced, his right hand on his heart.
Moments earlier, the American players had locked arms and stepped onto the medal podium as one, then raised their arms in unison toward the American fans who had hung a U.S. flag over the railing in the upper deck.
The members of Team USA didn’t just win their gold medals, they earned them against the first opponent that finally gave them a game. They didn’t dominate in the final game; they performed. They didn’t nearly blow it; they closed it out.
During the interviews, Anthony, who along with Wade, James and Carlos Boozer were the only returnees from the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, summed it up: “We were at America’s lowest point in ’04, and to have put USA Basketball back at the top of the world, it couldn’t feel better.”
Garrett Ellwood/NBAE/Getty Images
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