When every player from the 2008 Gold Medal winning U.S.A. team declined invites to the FIBA World Championships, the same thought ran across every NBA fan's head.
2004.
With a roster that consists mostly of players that have yet to play five years in the league, most fans of the United States basketball team immediately thought of the disaster in Athens at the 2004 Olympics when rookies and role players were thought to be the next Gold Medal winners, only to fall twice in the preliminary rounds and end up with their first bronze medal in Olympic history.
The 2002 FIBA's told the story as the United States failed to medal for the first time since 1978. It too featured a group thrown together due to superstars declining invites. Like Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett did eight years ago, players like Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James all declined to play in Turkey to try and bring home their first FIBA gold medal since 1994.
Out of it we got a team led by Kevin Durant, three years of experience, Derrick Rose, two years of experience, and Russell Westbrook, two years of experience, just to name a few. While this U.S.A. ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by John Friel
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August 29th, 2010 by John Friel Leave a reply »
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