The 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece was a dark chapter for the USA Men’s Basketball Team as they could only clinch a bronze medal. It was an embarrassment for a team stacked with NBA superstars and future Hall-of-Famers. However, then-20-year-old Carmelo Anthony, who was part of the team, wasn’t culpable for the setback as he was mostly riding the bench. But Melo still had the time of his life in Athens.
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In a conversation with Sue Bird on his 7 PM in Brooklyn pod, Melo discussed how the two had a blast in a nightclub called G32. The club was part of the RMS Queen Mary 2 ship, which served as a floating hotel for the Olympic athletes.
Both Bird and Anthony reminisced how the young players from both the men’s and women’s teams partied together and found camaraderie as the upcoming superstars of their respective leagues.
However, at the time, they were playing only limited minutes in the Olympics which afforded them the luxury of taking it easy. The young stars from both squads fell in love with the G32 club where partying didn’t stop till the morning. Here is how Melo summed up the experience.
“We about to change both the sides, the NBA, and the WNBA. We the new energy that’s coming into the game. Now we all going through the same situation so by the time we get back to the boat, everyone has the same sense of sentiment, so we gonna meet at the club.”
Bird remembered how the meetings at G32 left them with a yearning to chill together even more. She recalled shouting “G32” on the podium after the women’s team earned yet another gold medal.
“Everybody’s chanting USA, so you kind of get like USA! We kind of switched up, we are like G32! G32!”
Then the duo remembered the time when they hung out at the club for the last time before leaving Greece. When the bus to the airport was delayed from 4 AM to 6 AM, it brought some new found excitement among the youngsters. They got to party for a little longer!
The high-quality services on the luxurious Queen Mary 2 ship left a huge impression on them. G32 club made the biggest impact because of its vibes. The mixtures of the band and the DJ’s music kept the energy up in the wee-hours, which was especially enticing to the youth.
While the off-the-court experience was unforgettable for the young basketball stars, they weren’t getting the time to shine on the court.
Experienced players got the major minutes
Melo had just finished his rookie season at the time. His fellow draftees LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade also didn’t get enough minutes during the Athens Olympics campaign because the guard/wing rotations had the experience of Shawn Marion, Allen Iverson, Richard Jefferson, and Stephon Marbury. Meanwhile, the women’s team had an even more loaded squad.
Long-term Olympic vets Dawn Staley, Shannon Johnson, and Katie Smith took minutes away from Sue Bird at the guard spot. Thus, both young Melo and Bird were in a similar situation.
They didn’t have to extensively prepare for their fixtures which enabled them to spend some quality time in the G32 nightclub. While Anthony couldn’t bring the gold home, he had a lot of fun with his peers.
