The 2008 Redeem Group had one mission, restore American dominance on the world stage.
For Michael Redd, a veteran guard and key function participant on that roster, the way in which they did it was easy: depart the egos on the door.
“There have been moments the place all of us labored with one another, there have been age gaps on the staff, however all of us merged,” Redd just lately recalled on YouTube. “I need to credit score youthful guys who wished to pay attention and study from the older guys. I credit score older guys that wished to study from the youthful technology of men.”
Despite the fact that Redd entered the Olympics after 4 straight seasons averaging over 20 factors per sport, he accepted a smaller function. His motivation was the identical as the remainder of the group.
“There was little question of us successful, however our focus was alright, how a lot, and we knew who the threats had been,” Redd mentioned. “So, we had been just about dominant via the match. If we are able to compete towards one another and had been the very best on this planet, then nobody else on this planet has an opportunity. And fairly frankly, we had been all pissed off we misplaced in 2004. We had been pushed.”
The reminiscence of falling brief on the 2004 Olympics and once more on the 2006 FIBA World Cup fueled the whole lot they did.
Delight was on the road, and that sense of urgency united the celebs.
Dwyane Wade confirmed it not way back.
“If you’re a part of the Olympic staff, you’re not on that staff for any cause aside from to win a gold medal,” Wade mentioned. “That is about gold — gold or nothing — in relation to the U.S. Olympic staff.
“Our Redeem Group had one mission: to redeem ourselves after shedding the gold in 2004 and settling for bronze once more in 2006. We had been on a mission of redemption, and we did simply that. We introduced USA Basketball again to international prominence.”
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