After winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Cup, USA Basketball was determined to build the best team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Team USA assembled a team full of superstars heading into the Olympics, labeled the Redeem Team. Featuring Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and more, it won gold in China.
Gilbert Arenas was included in the pool of players competing for Team USA qualification. After all, he didn’t make a team. He revealed it in an interview on the Games with Names podcast.
“When you look at the redemption team, you see a little bit of me in it….it was a Nike event, so I thought they had some kind of prejudice against Adidas players.
“So I wasn’t being judged fairly in my heart. I was part of the second unit and I was the best player in the second unit. I won the match against the first unit.” If so, it was my fault.
“It was a one-man wrecking show against that line-up…yes, they told me I was in a team-building bubble because I pulled my crotch…
“So I was like, ‘I think I pulled my crotch and I don’t know how long this will last, so I don’t want to hold a position for someone else to make this team.’ I was like, don’t worry. And I was like, “OK, I’m out of here.”
