Team USA teaches the world a lesson
Thoughts on the greatest tournament I’ve ever seen
BY DAVID THORPE
I played in my first basketball tournament in 1978. I’ve watched more elimination games, breathless before the television, than I can count. I’ve coached AAU national title matchups. I’ve attended high-school state championships, March Madness tilts, and closeout contests in the NBA Finals.
The 2024 Paris Olympics provided the two most thrilling tournament games I have ever seen.
For decades, I’ve contended that Doug Collins’ two perfect swishes, which pushed Team USA to a one-point lead over the USSR in the 1972 gold-medal game, were the two greatest shots in Olympic history. Collins faced the intense pressure of America’s first-ever loss in Olympic men’s basketball. They were amateurs facing battle-scarred professionals. Sure, the game ended in a controversial Soviet victory, but Collins was money when the chips were down.
I watched the 2024 gold-medal game in my living room, with my adult son and three of his former high-school teammates. This summer, Team USA once again faced the pressure of “not losing,” only this time with far fiercer opposition than in prior years.
It started badly. Inexplicably, a roster with 14 NBA titles and three former MVPs resembled the Washington Generals. They were fucking terrible.
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