BEIJING: LeBron James and Kobe Bryant lead an Olympic group of US National Basketball Association stars trying to restore America to the global throne over world champion Spain and defending champion Argentina.
When the 12-team showdown tips off today, the US squad will seek redemption for an Athens flop. Three losses, the first using NBA talent, forced the Americans to settle for silver in 2004.
“We’re the ‘Redeem Team’. Cheesy, but it works,” superstar guard Bryant said. “This is the story everybody is following, to see if we can do it.
“I watched a little bit of it in 2004. You know the US is paying so much more attention now. As an American I was upset, but you kind of saw it coming. Teams got closer and closer. It’s even now. Teams have a lot of closeness.” Spain won the 2006 world title, beating Greece in the final after the Greeks shocked the US team in the semis.
“Redeem Team is right,” James said. “We lost in 2004. We played well in 2006. It’s going to be a great opportunity for all of us to be the best we can every night. No one would ever give us the underdog tag because of who we are.
“Every team is going to be coming after us. It’s not one team we respect but every team. I don’t know who is the team to beat. I can only care about what Team US is going to do. We have to be mentally focused and do what we need to do.” NBA scoring champion James, a reserve on the 2004 squad, puts his Olympic role above all else he has done in the sport, including his efforts for the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers. “It means more to me than playing for my regular team. I don’t just play for Cleveland. I’m playing for every state in the nation.
I didn’t know what in 2004. I was starting to get a feel for it in 2006 but I know it now.” Argentina, with NBA star Manu Ginobili, figures to contend for gold again in Group A with perennial powers Lithuania and Russia plus Australia, Iran and Croatia. The US is in Group B with China, Angola, Spain, Greece and Germany.
“There are many good teams such as Argentina or Greece and especially the United States is very strong,” said Spanish center Pau Gasol, an NBA teammate of Bryant on the NBA Los Angeles Lakers. “The US is really in shape. China is playing at home. Germany has (Dirk) Nowitzki and Greece knows how to play this kind of tournament.” James knows Spain will impress with NBA players Gasol, Jose Calderon, Juan Carlos Navarro, Sergio Rodriguez and Jorge Garbajosa.
“They have a lot of good NBA players and they have been together for a long time,” James said. “A lot of great players make them a very dangerous team.” US coach Mike Krzyzewski resists the 2004 redemption notion, but is happy with whatever inspires his players.
“If we redeem anything, that would be great. But it’s more about what we are doing. We want to win a gold medal. My main focus will be on that, not on the past,” the Duke University coach said.
Argentina offers Ginobili plus NBA veterans Andres Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto, Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino.
“We have less depth this time because we lost some guys but we’re in a similar situation with really high expectations,” Ginobili said. The US arrived in Athens four years ago on a similar cloud.
“I don’t feel we were complacent. We just didn’t know what it took to win,” James said. “The attitude is much better. These guys understand what it means to put on the USjersey and what it represents.
“I can’t worry about the past. I have to worry about the present. We’re prepared and ready to go against the best in the world. We’re ready. It’s what we’re here for.
It’s now or never for us.”
