But, the USA was up to the challenge that gold medal game, as they defeated Spain to complete the redemption arc. Spain was in its basketball golden years, as NBA star brothers Marc Gas & Pau Gasol were in their prime, and Spanish legend Rudy Fernandez was one of the greatest EuroLeague players we had seen. The team went 5-0 in their pool and set up a date with the, at the time, #2 ranked basketball country in the world, Spain in the gold medal game. The USA squad was now stacked for the first time in a long time, and they went to work. However, the big key in all this was they all signed up to play. The US best stars now included MVP’s Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, as well as other superstars like Carmelo Anthony and multiple time DPOY Dwight Howard. From 2004 to 2008, there was a major power shift in terms of the best players in the world. It was time for change, and 2008 brought that. There was a lack of want to play for the nation from top stars and that had shown two years earlier in 2002 during the FIBA championships where the USA had placed 6th. But, making the podium wasn’t good enough for USA basketball. Eventually, the team would suffer to losses against both Argentina and Lithuania which put the US in the bronze medal game where they were at least able to win and make the podium. It was expected they would win gold every tournament they were in, but it became clear after their opening game against Puerto Rico where they suffered a 19 point loss that things would not be so easy this time around in Athens. Leading up to the 2004 Olympics, the USA has dominated the international basketball scene thanks to having stars like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Micheal Jordan leading the way.

But, we also are sure to here about what this teams mission was: restore USA basketball to its former glory. This means we’ll get a behind the scenes look at generational players like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony that we’ve never seen before. We already know thanks to reports that there will be some never before seen footage in the documentary. So, what should we expect to see in this documentary, and how does it relate to today’s national basketball scene? Let’s dive in. Now, in 2022, this teams story will be told like never before thanks to two members of that 2008 team, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, who have come together to executive produce a documentary on the teams journey. What were they redeeming? The Olympic squad from 2004 that lost the most games of any USA basketball team and didn’t even make it to the gold medal game.

The famous 1992 “Dream Team”, the 2012 team that absolutely dominated en route to gold, but arguably the most important team for the county was the 2008 USA squad that was dubbed the name the “Redeem Team”.

Team USA basketball has had it’s share of elite teams over the years.

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