When you look at the roster of the 2008 United States Men’s Olympic basketball team and you see the list of iconic names, from LeBron James to Kobe Bryant to Dwyane Wade to Dwight Howard to Jason Kidd to Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony, you think: Of course they won the gold medal. Just look at that list of Hall of Fame talents!
Hindsight is a layup. But as we’re reminded in the soaring and exhilarating and beautifully rendered Netflix documentary “The Redeem Team,” victory in the 2008 Games in Beijing was anything but a lock for Team USA. This was four years before LeBron would win his first title, this was a time when Kobe’s image was tarnished as he had been labeled a selfish player who had helped facilitate Shaq’s departure from the Lakers, this was an era in which there were legitimate doubts about the Americans having the will, the drive, the commitment to compete on the world stage. After all, they’d just had their hats handed to them in the 2004 Olympics, eventually settling for the bronze medal.
