“United” States Basketball
July 3rd, 2008 - byTomorrow is July 4, our Independence Day. It’s a day filled with grilling, fireworks and patriotism.
More importantly, it’s a day for remembering that the United States was once a minuscule group of 13 colonies, overcame the monumental odds, and 232 years ago, broke free of Britain’s reign.
USA Basketball’s fortune is a different story. Since its first appearance in the 1936 Olympics up until 2000, the Stars and Stripes has dominated the competition, losing only two games total in 14 Olympics and winning the Gold 12 times (it should have been 13 … if you don’t know what I’m talking about, look up the 1972 Olympics).
But things took a turn for the worse. Athens 2004 saw a “team” of NBA stars lose more games than they had in the prior 14 Games and take home the bronze.
But that’s not even the worst of it. In the 2002 FIBA World Championships, the Americans failed to win a medal for the first time in 20 years. In 2005, they lost more games than they won (4-6) in the FIBA Americas Championship to finish fourth.
All of the sudden, it was the colonies all over again.
But things are changing. After that miserable fourth place two years prior, USA swept past the competition in last year’s FIBA Americas to take home the gold, the first one since the 2001 Goodwill Games.
Finally, the United States of America’s Basketball team is becoming just that … united. With prior “Dream Teams,” it was 12 players. With this year’s squad, it’s one team, and as Lebron James points out, one country.
“Our only goal in Beijing is to win the gold medal. That should be everybody’s goal, even if you’re not even a part of this team. Everybody in America should have the same goal for any Olympian going over there wearing the red, white and blue, not just the basketball team.”
So although tomorrow is technically called ”Independence Day”, think about what life would be like without depending on each other.
