In 2008 during the Beijing Olympics, the USA Men’s basketball team had great competition in their gold medal game against Spain. Although this USA team had names like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Paul, the Spain team was no slouch with the Gasol brothers (Marc & Pau), Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio. It was a close game throughout, so close that Spain got within 2 points but a guy by the name of Kobe Bryant did what he was custom to doing and put the game away. The USA team won, 118-107 as Bryant posted 20 points with 13 coming down the stretch.
This was Kobe in his prime. Coming fresh off a loss in the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics, you already knew the Black Mamba was coming for blood. Even with such dynamic talent on his side, his teammates knew what time it was as the Kobe takeover was before us.
With Bryant retired and enjoying his time off the court, its always great to reminisce times like this. With the 2016 USA team preparing to start their journey in Rio, they have a lot of work cut out for them. They will be without Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and a great like Kobe Bryant but if you ask me, they still have enough to get the job done. The USA team starts their expedition for gold with an exhibition game tonight at 9 pm against Argentina.
