A new sports documentary on Netflix called The Redeem Team has impressed sports fans around the world.
The Redeem Team tells the story of the efforts of the US Basketball squad to win Gold in the 2008 Olympics' games in Beijing, following the 2004 Athen Olympics in which the country "only" won Bronze.
The title refers to a nickname given to the team as they try to revitalize their reputations after some embarrassing losses four years prior.
The Redeem Team is a classic story of a team of talented athletes, who learn to come back from defeat by working together as a team and learning humility. And if you found the documentary interesting, here are some other things you might want to know about the story.
Why was it called The Redeem Team?
The Redeem Team is named after the 2008 US men's Olympics Basketball team, which was, at the time, given that same nickname.
It was because, after winning Bronze in the 2004 Olympics, the US was hoping for its team to return to the top spot. The US did give birth to the ball-bouncing sport after all, and had won 13 Gold medals for it since its introduction into the Olympics in 1936 (for context, they'd only not won Gold three times).
But the title is also a riff on the 1992 Olympics, as the men's basketball squad was called "The Dream Team" then. The team included Larry Bird, Michael Jordon and Magic Johnson, and it was the first time that NBA players had been allowed in the US' Olympics team.
Who was on The Redeem Team?
The US Basketball team in 2008 featured quite a few well-known players.
The captain was Kobe Bryant, one of the most famous basketball players of all time, who played guard alongside Jason Kidd, Deron Williams, Michael Redd, Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul.
Lebron James was also on the team, playing forward along with Carlos Boozer, Tayshaun Prince and Carmelo Anthony.
Rounding out the team was Dwight Howard playing center, and Chris Bosh who played both forward and center.
The coach was Mike Krzyzewski, who is sometimes referred to as "Coach K" — this was Krzyzewski's first stint as the coach of the Olympic basketball squad, but he went on to claim two more Golds after 2008.
Interestingly, none of the players were playing at the same club at the time, other than Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer (who both came from the Utah Jazz). So it really was a US union.
Was Kobe Bryant in The Redeem Team?
Yes — legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant, who tragically passed away in 2020, was in the 2008 squad, and he's also detailed in The Redeem Team documentary.
The movie features a touching tribute to Bryant — in fact, his segment is core to the themes of the documentary.
We hear a lot about how he was an outsider when the basketball squad team was formed, but he came to work better with the team over time. In fact, Jerry Colangelo, the managing director of the team, details how his energy set an example for the rest of his teammates.
Bryant wasn't interviewed for The Redeem Team, for obvious reasons, but there's plenty of archival footage used of games and other interviews.
The relationship between Bryant and James — two equally-huge stars at the time — is also shown, as the two athletes learned to ignore media rivalries to work together.
Who won the 2004 Athens basketball Olympics?
The "Redeem Team" is named that because, while US has a great track record at winning Gold in the Olympics Basketball, they only got Bronze in 2004. Gold went to Argentina, while Italy won Silver.
It was quite an upset for the US team, something The Redeem Team addresses in detail, focusing a lot on the 92-73 loss to Puerto Rico which kicked off the US' games.
It wasn't a total loss for the team — they did win three of the five games in their first group, making it all the way to the semifinals where they were knocked out by Argentina, and then beating Lithuania in the Bronze medal game.
Why is there so much war in The Redeem Team?
There's a surprising military presence in a film about basketball players, and some people might be confused about why it's all in there.
Lots of it surrounds the Athens games in 2004, and we see footage of troops diving into water around the Greek city. This is because of global events at the time: it was the first Olympic games since 9/11 and the commencement of the War in Iraq.
There was a fear of terror attacks on the games, which put off lots of US players from joining the teams, and the documentary suggests it's one of the factors that affected the basketball team's performance.
Later, when the 2008 squad is training, we see a talk from an army officer, with a few other soldiers in attendance. This is explained because the coach, Mike Krzyzewski, served time in the military, and found that lots of the principles that helped him there was important to impart to the team — especially teamwork.
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