Was Kobe Bryant’s USA Teammate Happy After He Lost to the Celtics in ’08? Michael Redd’s Reasoning for Why

Missing out on the 2006 FIBA tournament due to his wedding, Michael Redd would make the Beijing 2008 Olympics USA team due to his scoring prowess, never averaging below 20 points per game from 2003-09. While someone of his caliber could lead a team’s offensive engine, he played third fiddle to Kobe Bryant and Dywane Wade.

Bryant was brought onto Team USA after the embarrassing loss they’d suffered at the ’04 Olympics where they failed to get gold or silver. The ‘Redeem Team’ moniker played off the ‘Dream Team’ nickname and along with the notion that redemption at the center of their agenda in 2008.

Redd, a first time Olympian, knew Kobe would bring a different fire to the squad. However, even before he could make it to training camp, Redd felt gleeful about the kind of Kobe the team would get after the Lakers lost in 6 to the Celtics in the NBA Finals.

“For sure,” said Redd in regards to how he was happy about Bryant’s Finals loss as it would bring out a different level of determination within him. “He had the focus regardless. But obviously, being pissed off because he just lost to the Celtics, he had more incentive.”

Someone as diabolically competitive as Kobe would certainly find himself in a place of wanting to redeem himself for the Finals loss with a Team USA win. “His personal drive was certainly a motivating factor,” continued Michael.

The Redeem Team’ was inducted into the Hall of Fame recently. LeBron James spoke on Bryant’s importance to the squad, saying, “[He was] the missing link that we needed. He brought a sense of seriousness to the team. He made us lock in.”

The 5x champ has never been one to joke or play around when it comes to competition. After all, he made an alter ego (the Black Mamba) for himself just to separate Kobe Bryant from the man who he becomes upon stepping foot on NBA hardwood.

“We couldn’t be doing nothing half-a–. Kob’ wasn’t going for that. It made myself, CP, D-Wade, Melo; we all locked in even more because we wanted to show him we could get to that level as well,” said James.

️ “He was the missing link we needed in order to regain dominance with Team USA.”@KingJames on the impact Kobe Bryant had on the gold-winning ’08 USA Basketball Men’s National Team. pic.twitter.com/9ZvO4F6cJk

— NBA (@NBA) September 7, 2025

Whether it was running through Lakers teammate, Pau Gasol’s chest during Spain-USA or influencing his teammates to indulge in 4-5AM workouts, Bryant made his mark as a United States Olympian.