The USA men’s basketball team’s well-documented shortcomings in 2002, 2004 and 2006 created a stone-cold sober climate before the Beijing Games in 2008. Players and coaches approached their commitment to winning gold with a sense of gravity largely absent from the years marred by defeat. However, amid all of the seriousness of Team USA’s run through Beijing, there were moments away from the media spotlight in which these 14 guys loosened up and became a team.

We sat down with the Redeem Team’s gold-medal winning coach, Duke living legend Mike Krzyzewski, for DIME 50 to talk about those lighter times when laughter and smiles became the backbone for gold. Read More »

As we said this morning in Smack, now that the NBA Summer League is over in Vegas, the next basketball we have to look forward to is the USA Basketball National Team Mini-Camp which opens Thursday, July 23. While none of the big names from last summer’s Olympic run are going to make the trip, some of the top young NBA talents will do their best to make it to London in 2012. Read More »

Other than perhaps winning an NBA title, there is nothing better than USA Basketball (as evidenced by Team USA’s gold medal run last summer). While there’s the NBA All Star game, there really are no other events that allow the best players in the world to grace the court at the same time. That’s why I was so excited to see that USA Basketball announced the 21 top young prep talents that have been named to the 2009-10 USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team yesterday. Read More »