On August 27, 2004, the basketball team wrote one of the most brilliant pages in the history of Argentine sports. He got an unexpected victory against the United States Dream Team, nuanced with NBA stars, by 89-81 in the semifinals of the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The team led by Larry Brown had a handful of emerging NBA figures, such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade y Carmelo Anthonyand consecrated men who already knew what it was like to wear the shirt of the world giant, as Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, Stephon Marbury, Lamar Odom, among others. However, Athens was marked by fire. The greatness of ours, the nightmare of the North Americans. It was the last time the North American team did not win the gold medal Olympic, and the only one in history in which he lost it to a non-Soviet team, in another era of international politics.
LeBron James y Dwayne Wade they became producers to tell the documentary in great detail The Redeem Teamwhich will premiere on October 7 on the Netflix platform and will feature the history of the United States Dream Team from the moment, just so special, in which they lost to Manu Ginóbili’s team at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
In the last hours the trailer for The Redeem Team. Nostalgia runs through us, since you can see images (some unknown) of the magical group led by Ruben Magnano. LeBron James spontaneously comes up with his memory of that day: “It was disgusting to watch. It was terrible to be a part. We got our ass kicked.”, sentence. Which confirms the certainty: the Golden Generation was an international trip, a mirror in which various basketball teams in the world were observed, not only within our country.
Since NBA players have been part of the United States team at the Games, they have always won the gold medal. In Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Only in Athens did history definitively change.
After what caused the first Dream Team that won the 1992 Barcelona Games, the United States became an unbeatable cast with some of the stars of the NBA, logically, the best league in the world. until in Indianapolis 2002first, and later in the unforgettable Athens 2004, fell against Argentina and others selected, without reaching the final for the gold medal.
Featuring never-before-seen footage from the Games and behind-the-scenes footage, “The Redemptive Team” tells the story of the basketball team’s quest for gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after a shocking defeat four years earlier. The documentary offers a portrait of the development of the team and shows interviews with some athletes and coaches, such as Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Mike “Coach K” Krzyzewskiwho reflect on how this set of stars marked a before and after in American basketball.
Dwyane Wade, figure and producer, reflects on work and the passage of time. “In 2008, I had the opportunity to play with my heroes, superstars, friends and future teammates. Beyond winning and showing the world that we were still the best, nOur challenge was to change the perception of what everyone thought about the NBA and the USA Basketball organization. I am happy that everyone can have the opportunity to discover behind the scenes and see all the work done by this iconic team: the redemptive team”, he commented.
In the 2008 semifinals, The United States thrashed Argentina by 20 points (101-81) and then prevailed over Spain in the final by 118-107, with an enormous performance by Wade, author of 27 points, and also by Kobe, who added 20. “We had several things that we needed to prove to the world.and it wasn’t just basketball,” admits Bryant, in a section of the film that demonstrates the brutal dominance of Americans in this sport.
Although one day, Argentina gave the universal blow.
