The NBA is the biggest and unarguably the best basketball league in the world. Throughout the course of the league’s history, there have been many players who have flaunted their talents in the NBA.
From Wilt Chamberlain to LeBron James, we can keep naming superstars who have made fans fall in love with the game of basketball. The sport was invented in the United States, and it remains one of the only few sports which was strictly invented in the country.
As a result, it’s no surprise that Team USA has always been dominating, even on the international scene. Speaking of the Olympics, the USA has bagged 16 gold medals over the years.
It easily translated to team USA being the most dominant team. But even they have had a few bad campaigns in the Olympics. One of the most disappointing performances by them was in the 2004 Olympics, where they barely finished with a bronze medal.
The Reason Behind Team USA’s Poor Performance In The 2004 Olympics
In the 2000s, Team USA was expected to win gold medals every time they played in the Olympics. Fans had simply gotten used to it and had huge expectations from the team.
But in 2004, they were given a reality check. Despite the team featuring the likes of Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson, it was obvious there was no chemistry between them. However, one NBA journalist, in the recent trailer of Netflix’s The Redeem Trailer, explained the real reason behind the downfall of the 2004 Team USA.
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“We came to the notion, just because we’re Americans, we’re better.”
As the journalist explained in the above-attached trailer, American fans got so used to winning gold medals that they never thought that someone could defeat them at basketball.
This thinking ultimately became the reason behind their downfall in 2004. Fortunately, they bounced back in 2008, thanks to the creation of The Redeem Team. Since then, Team USA has been back on track and has been winning gold medals nonstop.
