The
2008 Olympics U.S. Men's Basketball Team represented the
United States of America at the
2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing,
China. They qualified for the Olympics by winning the
FIBA American Championships 2007 held in
Las Vegas, Nevada. The team was nicknamed the "
Redeem Team", a play on an alternative name for the
legendary 1992 squad that was called the "Dream Team", and a reference to the fact that the United States came away with a disappointing Bronze Medal during the
2004 Summer Olympics at
Athens,
Greece.
Kobe Bryant was named the team captain and
Mike Krzyzewski was named the head coach of the 2008 Olympics U.S. Men's Basketball Team.
LeBron James, often named the vocal leader of the team, stated in a feature with
TIME magazine: "It's the gold, or it's failure." An ESPN program,
Road to Redemption, followed the team's preparations.