An Olympic Gold Medal is the greatest achievement an athlete can achieve. I have grown up a swimmer and water polo player, where the previous statement remains true where in other sports its importance has faded. I have dreamed of playing in the Olympics my entire life.. As a child I watched my swim coach stand on the podium with an Olympic silver medal around his neck as tears rolled down his face. I closed my eyes and dreamed I could give anything to be in his place sometime in my lifetime. For a swimmer, the Olympics is the final destination in the sport, there is nothing more.
The sport of basketball is different in the USA. Ask any child on a schoolyard basketball court what his goals are in the sport of basketball, and he will reply with marks like; “I want to be the next Michael Jordan,” “I want to play in the NBA and be an All-star,” and “I want to make enough money to buy my mother a house.” Absolutely no child is dreaming of playing in the Olympics as a basketball player as his career goal. This single difference has been the catalyst for the failures of the Men’s Senior National Team in the past six years. The USA basketball will always have more talent than every team they play. The twelfth man on the roster could start on any national team in the world. But since when has talent alone ever won? Sure you can come out with examples of incidents that you think talent has won a major championship alone, but I will respond by saying that there was some underlying force behind that victory. In 2004 the basketball team led by Larry Brown and Tim Duncan seemed destined for failure. I never got the feeling that they even cared. (On a side note, whenever you have a team with Stephen Marbury on it, you know that they will lose). The team was never fighting for anything. They were limping and hoping and trying to pretend that no team had a chance against them. They went into the Olympics thinking they were going to win on the sole reason that they were Team USA. The roster of that team was filled with players that were thrown together at the last minute and were not a cohesive group of individuals. The best players on the team were the three young kids, who did not even get a chance to produce for the team. This year is a different story.
The 2008 Men’s Senior National Team is a team! They have come together to reach a common goal. Every player on the team is fighting for this Olympic gold. Kobe Bryant is trying to prove to everyone in the world that he is a leader and he can win something without Shaq. He is full of emotional energy and is ready is unleash it on the world scene to complete his makeover from the incidents in his past. Jason Kidd is trying to accomplish something late in his career that he needs to give him a spark coming into the final years of his career. Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwayne Wade have the most emotional commitment to this team and this Olympics. They have seen the worst of international play for the Americans and have stuck together through these tough years. They are not thinking about anything going on in the NBA, but are focused and ready to lead this team as its captains. Everyone else on this team is passionate about the Olympics and they have a strong desire to play the roles they need to play to win.
USA will still be the target of every team’s cannons. They will face media critics with every turnover and every missed shot. They will struggle to play at their best with the international rules and game. They will be pushed mentally, physically and emotionally. They will be losing at times in games and might lose a game. They will be regarded as failures if they come home with anything less than a gold medal. But, they will endure! They have something to strive for. They have soul! They care about the Olympics. It means something to each and every one of them on a personal level. The international teams would love nothing more than to beat this new “dream team” featuring the best players in the world. Talent alone will not win the Olympic Gold. But the USA is not playing on their talent alone. They are playing with heart as they fight like soldiers to honor the name of their country. They are mentally strong and physically dominant. It will be tough, and at times it will look like they will not surpass the difficulties that lie in front of them, but the USA Men’s Senior National Team will win the Olympic Gold and return it to its rightful place, AMERICA.
