The Redeem Team was a one-of-a-kind assembly of basketball superheroes. Although there were several big names on the team, no one had a bigger command over the masses like the late, great Kobe Bryant. On a recent episode of ‘7PM in Brooklyn‘ podcast, Carmelo Anthony talked about what the Black Mamba brought to the table and how he helped bring the whole team together for the mission.
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Before the 2008 Olympics, Team USA was in a bad spot. After losing in 2004 and 2006, they had only one goal in mind, to reestablish their dominance on the global stage. In the meantime, they were being ridiculed for back-to-back losses and it quickly became a part of the hip-hop culture as well.
Melo recalled listening to ‘Why? (Remix)’ by Jadakiss, where the legendary rapper said, “Why my cases ain’t get thrown out? Why team USA keep gettin’ blown out?”
The 39-year-old said that the team needed to reclaim the throne and Kobe was the last piece of the puzzle. He said, “We probably could’ve won it without Kobe, but it’d have been tougher.” The NBA veteran said that with Kobe in the squad, everyone accepted the role they were given and that helped the team stay together.
He said,
“That ’08 was a lot different. So, bringing Kobe was the piece that kind of molded everybody together to make the tour work. Everybody was their own act, so we got our own Hard Knock Life Tour…so how do everybody play a part in that and we knew in order for us to make a stance and show the rest of the world…we need the heavy hitters, so he was the last heavy hitter.”
Kobe was the biggest star in the team and to show everyone that he was there for the common goal, he took up the defensive role on the court during practice. And if that wasn’t all that was needed, Kobe doubled down on his motive by targeting Pau Gasol.
Before their matchup, Kobe told his teammates that he’d run through Gasol’s chest to send a clear message. Even though everyone dismissed it, at first, turned out that Kobe really meant what he said and surprised everyone.
Carmelo Anthony didn’t like his bronze medal
After a humiliating loss in Athens, Team USA had to settle for a bronze medal. So, when Melo came back with a bronze, he was being made fun of for winning a “penny” overseas. That fueled the fire inside him to get an upgrade on his Olympic medal. But in the meantime, the jokes kept coming his way. On one such occasion, he was so frustrated that he admitted to throwing his medal somewhere in a lake.
However, years later it was revealed during an auction of the medal that the 10-time All-Star didn’t actually throw it away, but he didn’t have any attachment to it, therefore he decided to auction it off. Even though Melo kept the medal, one thing was clear he didn’t really care for a bronze on the global scale.
