August 25, 2008Recommend (12)
BY GREG COUCH Sun-Times Columnist
BEIJING -- They were two little kids, free of the past and any doubts or suspicions. The U.S. basketball team won gold Sunday, beating Spain 118-107, and the players jump/hugged at center court like superstars rarely do. Redeem team, yes. But the players with the most redemption, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade, left the court facing a maze of waist-high metal fences, along a row where reporters stand for interviews, and to the locker room.
So here came Wade, working a camcorder to capture things. But then he couldn't help himself. "Ahhhhhhhh," he said, and started sprinting through the whole thing.
» Click to enlarge image Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony are surrounded by photographers as they celebrate after beating Spain 118-107 in the men's gold medal basketball game Sunday at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
(AP)
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And then Bryant came, jumping and running and high-fiving anyone with a hand.
Like two kids so happy deep down that they can't help themselves but to just run and yell.
The moment meant plenty to all the players, and to the great organizer, Jerry Colangelo. But it meant something particularly special to Wade and to Bryant.
"No question it does, and it will," Wade said. "I talked to Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) and said, `Thanks for believing in me.' "
Bryant, meanwhile, was here to rebuild his name. He hasn't won an NBA title without Shaquille O'Neal at his side. And feelings about him in the U.S. are mixed, ever since his sexual assault accusation.
Now, he has a major championship. And in China, the people were surprisingly wild about him. He created a bigger stir the past two weeks even than China's Yao Ming. On Sunday, two young woman volunteer assistants working the interview room couldn't help themselves when Bryant walked in. They squealed and giggled together.
It was a much better image for Bryant than what we're used to. That, and the gold medal around his neck.
The way he took over in the fourth quarter against Spain, when his country needed him.
"What you saw today was a team," Bryant said. "People say NBA players are selfish, but we were facing adversity and came out with a win."
If Bryant goes home with a better image though, Wade's redemption is more from within. He was the best player on the team throughout the Olympics. And you could have seen that coming when he said beforehand that all he expected of his teammates was that they play the best 16 days of their lives.
He was on the 2004 team in Athens that embarrassed itself with disinterested play and a bad attitude. Wade, who's from Chicago, barely acknowledges being on the team, saying he didn't get to play.
But before the Games, he talked about the people in Athens booing the U.S. team, not just on the court, but out in public, or anywhere the players were seen.
Do you know where your bronze medal from Athens is?
"No," he said. "But I know where my gold is, and it's going to stay here for a while."
It was around his neck.
Wade, who scored 27 points Sunday, including a big late 3-pointer, was a question mark with Colangelo. He still had the endorsements of a superstar, the commercials with Charles Barkley, and even the tabloids talking about him and whether he's dating Starr Jones.
Truth is, though, Wade hasn't been playing to his reputation. His knees appeared shot, and Colangelo told him from the start that the word was Wade would never be the same. Wade had to prove himself. And once Wade said he could do it, Krzyzewski backed him, he said, and even called regularly leading up to the Games to see how he was doing.
Wade did something he said he had never done, hit the weight room to build the muscles around his knees.
"I worked damn hard to get here," he said.
From here, Wade goes back a different person. And Team USA is different, too.
Someone asked him if the team had created the blueprint for future golds.
"It's going to be a tough blueprint to follow,' he said. "Tough to get this team back together.
"But we've got great young players. They saw how we represented ourselves and enjoyed the experience. Hopefully, the next Olympics, whether I'm on it or not, everybody will take a look back at this and try to do it."
It couldn't have turned out better for these two kids.
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