“Coming Off of 2004 and 2006 losing, We Had a Lot to Prove”: Dwyane Wade On His Mentality Going Into Beijing Olympics 2008 With Kobe Bryant and Redeem Team

Dwyane Wade was sore from the hurts of losing the 2006 FIBA World Cup and the 2004 Olympics when called up for Beijing 2008.

The first time that Team USA Basketball sent a team of professionals to the Olympics was in Barcelona, 1992. The Dream Team, as Michael Jordan and co were called, annihilated all of the opposition they faced. They won their games by an average margin of 43.8 points.

In the Olympics that followed, they continued to send some of their best talent to the quadrennial event. Hakeem and Shaq headlined their 1996 team. Vince Carter and Kevin Garnett were among those who won gold at Sydney in 2000.

On this day in 2000, Vince Carter did this.

Over 7’2″ Frederic Weis.

During an Olympic game.

🐐 pic.twitter.com/e1DaGYGd6T

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 25, 2019

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However, the rest of the world had begun catching up to basketball, improving their talent and their infrastructure. The margins of victory became narrower as time progressed. And their demise started in the 2002 FIBA World Championships as Team USA finished 6th.

This wasn’t the wake-up call that most programs would’ve taken it as. Still relying on individual talent, Team USA Basketball finished only 3rd at the Athens Olympics in 2004. They were also beaten in the semifinals by Greece in the 2006 FIBA World Cup.

Both of those teams featured Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. And the trio needed to exorcise themselves from the ghosts of their past performances.

Dwyane Wade was stoked to be part of the Redeem Team 2008

Spearheaded by Kobe Bryant, Team USA Basketball rolled to a gold medal in the Beijing Olympics of 2008. D-Wade turned out to be their best performer there, using his athleticism and skill to great effect.

In an interview with the official Olympics channel, Wade revealed what it meant for him to earn a call-up to the Team USA Basketball program under Coach Mike Krzyzewski in 2008.

“To say special is not even giving it a real, true definition. I mean, if you put a group of that kind of talent together, with those egos, together, to go out there and accomplish something – especially coming off of 2004, losing. 2006, losing. We had a lot to prove.”

“So it was special everyday to go out there and prove that we were who we thought we were.”

“Before you go out and play in an Olympics, you don’t really understand how big that moment is. Standing up on that podium at the end, before they bring the gold medals out. You realize at that moment that you’re the best in the world.”

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