The basketball world was blessed with the announcement of a Netflix documentary about the iconic 2008 US Olympic Men’s Basketball Team, often known as the ‘Redeem Team’. The same has been produced by 2 players on that iconic squad: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. The Redeem Team was named so after the 2004 Olympic failure for Team USA, where they walked away with a Bronze medal.
The 2004 Olympic team lacked star names, with the biggest name on the team being former MVP Allen Iverson, alongside LeBron and Carmelo Anthony, fresh off completing their rookie season. The Redeem Team was absolutely stacked, having players like LeBron, Wade, Melo, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, and Dwight Howard, among others.
Kevin Durant didn’t make the cut for the 2008 team but did for the 2012 London team, which many argue was an even better team than the 2009 squad. Regardless, he has extended support to the documentary and shared his excitement for the same on Twitter.
Needed it yesterday. Can’t wait to lock in https://t.co/oU4CduOXfb
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 19, 2022
The roster for the 2008 Redeem Team featured eleven NBA All-Stars, a Hall of Fame coach in former Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski, and two NBA MVPs in Kobe and LeBron. Kobe was fresh off his only MVP win and went on to captain the US Olympic squad in 2008.
Kobe and LeBron were the central figures of the team, widely regarded as the leaders of their squads. While their leadership styles were different, they were all after the same goal of winning the Gold medal.
LeBron pushed Kobe just as much as Kobe pushed LeBron, with LBJ even forcing Coach K to hold Kobe accountable for taking bad shots. Their story is one that many people think started the resurgence of the national team after the disaster in 2004. A documentary showing the pressure the players were under will be a magnificent watch, and we are just as excited as KD for the same.
