Transcription
[Music] One fact about every basketball Olympic tournament.
1936 Berlin. This was the first official basketball Olympic tournament, and it took place in, let's say, Yatsi, Germany, for lack of a better word. Team USA got the gold. The US men's basketball team beat Canada 19 to 8 in the final round to win gold, and yes, that was the final score. If you're wondering why the score was so low, the game was held outdoors on a dirt court in the pouring rain. This made it impossible to dribble. There were also no seats for spectators or fans, so there were fewer than a thousand fans watching the game in the pouring rain for the entirety of that final match. Playing basketball in the rain is one thing. Playing it in the pouring rain on a dirt court must be extremely agitating. I'm surprised no one started a world war after this.
1948 the London Olympics. It took about 12 years for the Olympics to return. I guess that 1936 tournament was so horrible they didn't want to do it anymore, or maybe there was another reason. Anywh who, in 1948, the NBA, or BAA at the time, was just roughly 2 years old, and six US gold medalists were either current or future NBA players.
1952 the Helsinki Olympics. Of the 1952 USA Gold roster, Clyde Lovellette was the only NBA player. The team still won gold. Clyde is a three-time NBA champ and four-time NBA All-Star.
1956 the Melbourne Olympics. The first Olympics to feature NBA legend Bill Russell. Of course, with a talent like that, the team was destined to win gold, and that's what they did. They won their fourth gold medal in a row.
1960 the Rome Olympics. This US Olympic team featured both Jerry West and Oscar Robertson. No question, this duo would lead the US to another gold, winning five golds in a row.
1964 the Tokyo Olympics. Not only would Team USA win six golds in a row, they won every game during this tournament with an average margin of 30 points in their favor.
1968 the Mexico City Olympics. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar protested these Olympic Games and removed himself from the roster. This is due to the racial injustice in America at the time and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Team USA still won gold, but it was a very controversial time for players to either play or not play in the game. Kareem ended up getting death threats for his decision, but he would have gotten hate no matter what choice he made.
1972 the Munich Olympics. The Soviet Union defeated Team USA in the final round, which gave the Soviet Union its gold and the USA silver. Not only did this end a seven-straight gold streak for Team USA, it also ended a 63-single game win streak as well. Prior to this loss, Team USA was 63-0 in Olympic tournament games.
1976 Montreal. The United States reclaimed the gold medal in the tournament. In this Olympics, it also featured the first USA Women's Basketball team in the women's competition.
1980 the Moscow Olympics. The United States boycotted these games, leading to the Soviet Union winning the gold medal in men's basketball. The reason Team USA boycotted these Olympics is because America was mad at the Soviet Union for invading Afghanistan, something America would never do, right?
1984 the Los Angeles Olympics. After the USA boycotted entering the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union played parrot and decided to boycott entering the United States, or maybe they were afraid of facing Michael Jordan, as this was his first Olympic tournament, and of course, he wins gold. MJ's first NBA game was October 26th, 1984, which means he was an Olympic gold medal champion before even playing in the NBA.
1988 the Seoul Olympics. Team USA did extremely poorly for Team USA standards, as this was their first bronze medal in Olympic tournament history, and it's not like they had a lack of talent. While the roster could have been better, they still had the likes of David Robinson and Mitch Richmond on the team. Both are All-Stars, and one is even an MVP.
1992 the Barcelona Olympics. This, of course, was the Dream Team, and the original Dream Team never called a single timeout in their Olympic title run back in '92. That's right, head coach Chuck Daly didn't even call a single timeout over the course of the entire tournament's competition. Maybe it's because they were beating some of their opponents by an average of 43.8 points per game.
1996 the Atlanta Olympics. Not only did Team USA men's win gold during this Olympic tournament, Team USA women's also won gold. Back-to-back gold champions. Another interesting fact about this Olympic team is that Hakeem Olajuwon became a US citizen in April of 1993 and thus he joined this team and no longer played for Nigeria.
2000s the Sydney Olympics. Despite Kobe, Shaq, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce, Reggie Miller, and David Robinson withdrawing from the Team USA roster, the Team USA still managed to win gold and go undefeated in this tournament.
2004 the Athens Olympics. This was the most upsetting Team USA performance. They had LeBron, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, and Tim Duncan, but they came in third with the most US losses in Olympic tournament history at three losses during the entire Olympic tournament, and again, this is bad for Team USA standards.
2008 the Beijing Olympics. This team was known as the Redeem Team after having such a poor 2004 run. With essentially a similar core, Team USA in 2008 defeated a really tough Spain team in the finals and claimed gold with a perfect record during this tournament. And if you're wondering, yes, this is the Olympics in which Kobe rammed Pau Gasol straight in the chest. I'm sure everyone was surprised that was going to happen, except for maybe Pau Gasol himself. He probably was expecting that.
2012 the London Olympics. Not only did Team USA win gold yet again, they set an Olympic single-game record with 156 points scored against Nigeria in the preliminary round.
2016 the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The United States won their fifth gold medal by beating Serbia 96-66, which is a 30-point margin in Team USA's favor. The largest margin of victory since the 1992 Dream Team final match.
2020/2021 the Tokyo Olympics. This Olympic match was postponed due to COVID, and this USA team was heavily carried by Kevin Durant, as he shot 52.9% from the field, 37.5% from the three-point line, and 90.5% from the free-throw line. He was also named the FIBA MVP of the 2020 Olympic men's basketball tournament.
2024 the Paris Olympics. While the Paris Olympics did not start yet, they begin on July 26, 2024. This 2024 roster has the most former MVPs on a single roster in Olympic history, with four of them: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Joel Embiid. Not even the 1992 Dream Team had four former MVPs. Now, for being honest, this fact is a little semantical. For example, Karl Malone, David Robinson, and Charles Barkley weren't MVPs yet, although technically they do become MVPs. But in the year 1992, the only MVPs on that roster at the time were Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan. So if you count future MVPs, then obviously 1992 takes the cake with six of them. But if we're doing former or current, then 2024 takes the cake with four of them. But who knows, maybe some players on this 2024 roster, like say, Anthony Edwards, might one day become an MVP, or Terry Rozier, and but definitely not Jayson Tatum. Derrick White, possibly. I'm kidding. At the end of the day, this fact is a bit semantical, depending on who or who you don't want to count as an MVP yet. Also, like Hakeem Olajuwon, Joel Embiid recently became a US citizen in 2022 and thus joined this team instead of playing for France or Cameroon.
So here was one fact about every Team USA Basketball Olympic tournament. Let me know how you think the 2024 Olympics would go down and who do you think is going to win gold. Don't forget to dunk on that like button and subscribe with notifications turned on. I'm Rebound Rewind, and I'll fast forward to you later.