I watched the Gold Medal game between the "Redeem Team" of the USA and the Spain the 2008 Beijing Olympics and while the Spanish basketball team was superb, the difference was #10 on the USA side: Kobe Bryant.
If you think about it, if there were eight extra minutes for the game, I think Spain would have won. Pau Gasol was doing damage in the paint, Juan Carlos Navarro and Rudy Fernandez were hot from the perimeter and upstart 17-year old Ricky Rubio seemed confident directing the Spanish offense. But then Spain was inching in the the Americans, Kobe made a clutch 4-point play to stretch the lead to a comfortable level. As the final buzzer sounded, USA defeated Spain, 118-107.
Yeah, Dwayne Wade led the scorers with 27 points, but he was a non-factor down the stretch when Spain made their run. The same can be said about LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.
So, sorry Spain your gold medal was snatched by the NBA's MVP.
Tags: Lakers
