In 2004, Americans watching the Summer Olympics in Athens knew one thing for sure: the gold medal in basketball was already in the bag for Team USA. After winning the gold in basketball at the previous three Olympics, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the all-star team featuring legends like Allen Iverson, Dwayne Wade, and Carmelo Anthony would easily crush the competition. It just wasn’t meant to be. The final results have the squad taking third place, behind silver-place Italy and gold-place Argentina.
Several members of the squad pledged to make a comeback and competed in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China under the moniker “The Redeem Team.” Now, thanks to Netflix, these iconic athletes are the subject of a documentary of the same name. Several members of the returning squad describe the months leading up to and around the Athens Olympics in a trailer published today. Wade, Anthony, and LeBron James all share their stories of seeking forgiveness in the 2008 Olympics with viewers. They knew they wanted to go all out, so they recruited the late Kobe Bryant in the hopes that his charisma and ability to rally the troops would help them overcome their reputation as “showboats.”
Mike Krzyzewski, the team’s great coach, was instrumental in shaping the individuals on the court into a cohesive one. With a mix of current and former players, coaches, and other club insiders, as well as archive film, this documentary will have viewers glued to their seats. Wade and James, who were featured prominently in the film, also had an executive producing role. The film was directed by Jon Weinbach, whose previous credits include such classics as The Last Dance, The Other Dream Team, and The Nagano Tapes: Rewound, Replayed, & Review.
In light of basketball’s prominence on television shows this past year, The Redeem Team hopes to fill a void for fans of the sport. The Crossover, based on Kwame Alexander’s novel, will soon be available to stream on Disney+, narrated by Daveed Diggs, while during the summer, Showtime aired NYC Point Gods, a documentary chronicling the ascent of many legendary point guards from New York City. However, HBO has now announced that production on the second season of its dramatised account of L.A.’s history will soon begin.
Time was ticking away on Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, the Lakers’ early run to greatness. We are certain that The Redeem Team will be a hit for Netflix, given the recent popularity of other basketball-themed productions. You can view a trailer for the film below, and it will be released on October 7.