'The Redeem Team' - New Netflix Documentary About 2008 Team USA Squad Set To Premiere In October
Netflix is creating a special about Team USA's "Redeem Team." The creators of "The Last Dance" are bringing fans this documentary about the 2008 USA Olympic basketball team. "The Redeem Team" was assembled to avenge the infamous losses of the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2006 FIBA World Cup.
News broke this week on Twitter about the documentary, including the official Netflix trailer. Fans got an inside glimpse at what to expect when the documentary premieres on October 7.
Complete with interviews with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, the film will debut new one-on-one footage with Team USA captain Kobe Bryant. The material was filmed before his tragic helicopter crash in 2020.
The Redeem Team (led by Kobe Bryant @KingJames @DwyaneWade & @carmeloanthony) is the untold story of the 2008 US Men’s Olympic basketball team who had everything to lose — and everything to prove.
The Redeem Team premieres October 7 https://t.co/6YPv9pihkn
The documentary provides an inside look at the untold story behind the team following their catastrophic defeat in the 2004 Olympics. The world questioned whether or not the NBA was truly home to the best basketball in the world.
The documentary is expected to look at the pivotal 2006 FIBA World Cup Championship. The experience reaffirmed the importance of assembling a Team USA squad for the 2008 Olympics that refused to lose.
As the trailer points out, the first step in assembling The Redeem Team for the 2008 Olympics was recruiting Kobe Bryant. The program brass believed that Kobe could lead the best basketball team on the planet. If there was one player who would refuse to accept mediocrity from his team, it was Bryant.
A New Beginning For Team USA
After recruiting Kobe Bryant to serve as the captain of the 2008 "Redeem Team," the program selected Mike Krzyzewski to coach the team. Widely considered one of the greatest basketball minds and the best coach in college history, Krzyzewski seemed like a natural choice.
The U.S. assembled a roster that many believed would win Olympic gold. The team rattled off five straight wins in the preliminary round of the Olympics. They swept their group to earn themselves the B1 seed in the games. After picking up a dominant win over Australia in the first round, Team USA picked up a twenty-point win over Argentina just two days later.
This win clinched their spot in the Gold Medal game against Spain. Despite the game being closer than their previous two, the United States pulled out the win, defeating Spain 118-107. The moment was a return to glory for a country that popularized the sport worldwide. Since then, the U.S. program has continued to reign atop the basketball world on a global stage.