Manu Ginobili is one of the greatest overseas talents the NBA has ever seen. Ginobili was touted to be one of the greatest shooting guards during the 2000s, even when Dwayne Wade and Kobe were still in form and contending. Not only Manu Ginobili but the whole Argentinian basketball team was putting the world on notice during the early 2000s.
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During a recent episode of the SKWEEK SHOW hosted by NBA Hall of Famer, Tony Parker, Ginobili talked about his Olympic experience. For context, Ginobili and the 2004 Argentina Men’s basketball team became the first team to ever defeat a USA men’s team post-1992. The reason was that post-1992, the USA started sending NBA players to represent their country.
While on the show, the Spurs shooting guard talked about playing for his country and defeating the 2004 USA Men’s team in the semi-finals of the Olympics. Ginobili described winning the Gold as his ” Proudest moment.” Even though that might have been Ginobili’s proudest moment, it sure did piss some people off. The USA basketball program was revamped with one goal in mind, winning an Olympic Gold.
The popular documentary called the “Redeem Team”, covered the journey of the USA Men’s team from 2004 to 2008, as the USA eyed the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Ginobili, who watched the 2022 documentary, even had a conversation about the same with his Spurs teammate, Tony Parker, while on his show. During the conversation, Tony asked Ginobili,
Tony Parker: “Did you realize how mad they were against you?”
Ginbolili: “I had no idea, seriously. I was smiling… The part where Coach K told D Wade. So, I had no idea that it was happening. I thought they had a better team and were fired up because it’s the Olympics. Not because of us, ’cause we had eliminated them before.”
Ginobili did feature heavily throughout the documentary. The documentary showed how Coach K used mind games to get his players psyched up. Before the semi-final game against Argentina, Coach K showed the whole USA Men’s team a highlight clip of Manu Ginobili dominating.
Coach K even showed his players news headlines which had Ginobili described as the “second best shooting guard” and the “best two-way guard”. These news articles didn’t sit well with Kobe and Wade, as the USA team went full force against Ginobili and Argentina, winning the game 81-101.
Why the USA failed in 2004
The 2004 Olympics were a disaster for the USA men’s Basketball Team. They were being held during the ongoing Iraq war, and many NBA players such as Shaquille O’Neal refused to play in the Olympics out of fear. With more than half the players taking back their commitment, Coach Larry Brown had to defer to a team of young NBA talent and a few veterans.
The experiment from Brown’s side was a disaster, as the USA Men’s team lost their preliminary match against Costa Rica. Not only that but the team got blown out by Argentina during the Semi-finals as well.
The young players on the team such as Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, and Dwayne Wade were all frustrated, as Coach Brown refused to play the young core. On the other hand, Argentina were having the time of their life. After beating the USA in the semis, Argentina would go on to win their country’s first and only Gold Medal, beating Italy in the finals with a score of 84-69.
With the rise of more and more foreign talent, the USA can no longer claim its dominance as the world’s best. After losing in the semi-finals of the recent FIBA World Cup, it would be interesting to see if the USA can pull another “Redeem Team” type experiment, as Paris 2024, creeps closer.
