Additional Quotes >> USA 118, Spain 107

Aug. 24, 2008 - Beijing, China

Gold Medal Game

USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski (Duke University)
Opening comments:
On behalf of everyone involved with United States basketball, we want to thank everyone here for following this tournament, the class manner for the organizers, congratulate all the other teams and coaches. I'm proud of our guys. We played with great character in one of the great games in international basketball history, I think. Because if we didn't have great character, we would not have been able to beat another team that had great character. Spain was fabulous. Everything we did, we tried to stop them. We couldn't stop them completely. It was a great basketball game where everybody involved played at the highest level and I think it brought out the best in us. We're thoroughly thankful for the opportunity to represent our country. Ecstatic. Ecstatic about winning the gold medal.

How did you mesh so many star players together?
This was easy. All these guys committed to Jerry Colangelo three years ago and they said they want to be part of a team. And Jerry said we're going to have one collective ego but we wanted you to bring all your egos because that's how you get better. We have not had one second of problem as a coaching staff with our team. It's been the greatest experience of my life and the lives of the other coaches.

What's going to happen with this team now?
We're going to go celebrate in the locker room. (laughter)

On winning the gold
It's exhilaration. If we didn't have the three years together, we wouldn't have won this game because the three years gave us character to beat a great team that had great character in Spain. It was one of the great games in international basketball history. To win a game like that is the best.

Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team managing director
On where the program goes from here:
They forgot this was a six-year commitment (laughter).

We are going to celebrate and we're going to talk about the future going forward. But the good news is this … unsolicited, five or six of these guys have already said they want to be part of what we do going forward.
But, we have plenty of time to sort through it. They need some time off … they really do.

On winning the gold:
Three years seems like such a long time ago. And here it was and it was winding down and it was hard to believe it was really happening. This may have been one of the great games in Olympic basketball history. To be part of that is so exciting and to win it meant everything. So mission accomplished.

Could you have won this without the three-year commitment:
There is no possible way in my opinion and I know Coach K feels the same way that the continuity, the fact that these guys got to know each other.
We didn't crack under any pressure. There was pressure from the opening tipoff and the fact is it was a pressurized game and we never cracked.

Without continuity, without these guys being together for the last few years, I think we might have lost.

Val Ackerman, USA Basketball President
What does the double gold for USA Basketball mean?
This is a great result for American basketball, for the NBA, for the WNBA, everyone associated with the senior national team. The world has changed and because the competition has gotten so fierce, it makes it all the more impressive that we're able to hold on and maintain the top spot in the case of the women and reclaim the top spot in the case of the men. Very rewarding for all of the people involved who put a lot of time and effort into making this result happen.

Nate McMillan
On winning the gold:
It's just great. After three years of committing to bring this team back and playing the ball we're capable of playing, and getting the reward of winning the gold. It's definitely all worth. This is a dream come true for all of us. The last couple of years, we've dreamed about this, we prepared for it and it happens tonight.

Mike D'Antoni
On winning the gold
I'm just proud to represent the country and these guys and to be a part of this is overwhelming. It's a lot of work, but this is a great game and great end to three years of trying to get gold.

Jim Boeheim
On winning the Gold
It's a good a feeling as you're going to get. To win a gold medal for your country, especially after the last six or eight years, there is really no better feeling than this. It was great that we were tested … we were really tested today. When it became a two-point game, I think the character of this team showed. It would have been easy to say, -Ooh, we just can't get over it." But, these guys just didn't let anything faze them. Spain played an unbelievable game and we were still able to win.
So, it's a great win.

Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets)
What's it like to have that gold medal around your neck?
We've come so far, especially the guys who were here in '04. We came a long way and it feels great. It's a blessing for us and we're going to enjoy this moment for a long time.

On how the team has come together:
We wanted to be here first of all. We had 12 guys who were on the same page from the first day. When you do that with the players that we have, it's just an amazing feeling.

On his Olympic performance:
I feel great. I brought to the team what I was suppose to: shoot the ball, defense, rebounding. Really doing a little bit of everything out there on the court.

On today's game:
We weren't expecting this game to be a blow-out. We were expecting it to be close. After it was all done, it made it all worth it.

On the overall experience:
I've been doing this for four years. Now that I look back at '04, that experience has been a blessing to myself, to LeBron, Dwyane Wade and also Carlos Boozer. We were at America's lowest point in '04 and to be sitting here in front of you guys tonight and be on top of the world, I think we did a helluva job of putting American basketball back where it's supposed to be which is at the top of the world. I'm just so proud right now of my team, the coaches, Mr. Colangelo and the whole USAB staff in what they did.

Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz)
How good does it feel to have that medal around your neck?
It's amazing. We've had one goal in mind for four years and we accomplished it. For us, we're so proud to be Americans … it's hard to put into words. It's so exciting for us. We want to come back and defend this gold but right now we're celebrating. I feel so honored to be a part of this team. We're going to be smiling for a long time.

On the team:
We're so close. Guys gave up a lot, we sacrificed so much for the betterment of the country to get the gold medal. We did it as a team, for the benefit of the team. Sometimes you have to sacrifice and we all made the biggest sacrifice of playing as a team. We're all the guys on our (respective) team. We put all that aside and came together as a group of guys, played great defense, probably the best defense ever played. We did a great job offensively and now we have the gold medal.

Spain cut the lead to two in the middle of the fourth quarter, were you nervous at all?
If we play defense, we're going to win. As long as we have the lead, no matter if it's one point or if it's 20 points, all we have to do is get the lead and we're going to survive. And we got them. We got them when we had to get them and we won the gold medal. If we didn't get stops we wouldn't have won it.

Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors)
How good does this feel right now?
Oh man, this is an incredible feeling. All that work we put in, all those days, starting from 2006 we've been thinking about it. It's been a great experience.

Where does this fit into your whole career?
It's the consummate of everything. I've been dreaming about a gold medal ever since I saw the '92 Dream Team play. I never thought it could be possible. My dream started back then and this is a long time in the making.

Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
Opening Comments:
Coach K and LeBron both said it best. We faced some incredible teams here. We knew coming in that Spain was going to be a big problem as well as Argentina, Greece and some of the other teams we faced.

I think Spain played an incredible game today. They showed why they're the world champions. They execute extremely well. They're very poised. I think this is a testament to the system that Mr. Colangelo put in place.

What you saw today was a team. Everybody wants to talk about NBA players being selfish, being arrogant, being individuals. What you saw today was a team bonding together, facing adversity and coming of here with a big win.

On the four-point play he had in the fourth quarter:
That changed the momentum for us. They had a lot going, the four-point play really swung the tide. It seemed to swing the momentum of the game back in our favor.

Were you worried at all when they cut it to two?
No. I think we all enjoyed this game. It was a competition. It wasn't pressure. It was more like, alright, let's dig our heels in. Let's have a good time with this one.

Did that make the gold medal sweeter?
Absolutely. And to go against the defending world champs. For it not to be easy it showed what three years does. In a game like this you really have to play as a unit to be able to come out with a win. That's what we did, we played as one.

On Dwyane Wade's performance in the first half:
He played like Wade. He's back, he's healthy, he's strong and this is what he does.

On the game:
It was a challenging game. We knew that they were going to bring it and they did. But, this is what a team is all about for us. This is why we worked hard together for three years for games likes this to be able to rally together and come through for a big win.

On wearing a gold medal around your neck:
Surreal. Surreal. It's an unbelievable feeling to win a gold medal for your country. I can't begin to describe to you the feeling that we all feel right now. It's unbelievable.

On your Olympic experience:
We all jelled together as a team. These are relationships and bonds that we shared and will never forget. It lasts forever. It's amazing it's all over now.

Why did the team go over the Doug Collins after the game?
He gave us such an emotional speech when he came to camp in Vegas and it moved us all. We all felt the pain he had in his heart and the big loss to Russia. And, we just wanted to share this moment with him.

Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)
On the game:
The game was good. I just thank God for this opportunity to play in the Olympics. Without him, this wouldn't be possible. And then just playing against Spain, they played extremely well tonight. I would rather have won the way we won instead of having a blow out game. We had to win it … we really had to try for it. It feels good.

What's it feel having a gold medal around your neck?
It hasn't really even sunk in yet. I don't even know what to think right now.

What about the experience of playing in the Olympics?
It's been a lot of fun, especially this last game winning it all. We all bonded this whole trip and became brothers.

LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Opening Comments:
On behalf of the players, first of all, we want to give respect where respect is due to the Spain team. They were unbelievable. Just like Coach said, we had a game plan and they countered our game plan by making some incredible plays. Every possession counted tonight for all 40 minutes … every possession counted. You couldn't take one possession off, one second off. If it wasn't for the determination and the will power we have in each other, we wouldn't have pulled through and got this win.

Much respect to Spain, but US is back on top again.

On the game:
It was really fun. Every possession counted. All 40 minutes, every possession counted. We knew Spain was going to give us all they had. We knew it wasn't going to be an easy one like we had last time. We got guys that make plays and everyone made a play down the stretch to get the win.

What's it feel like to have a gold medal?
It's the best accomplishment I've ever had as an individual playing basketball. This is a great feeling and it's going to live on for a long time.

Talk about your Olympic experience:
I always have fun and getting to be with 11 of the best guys in the world, coaching staff, one of the best, this is like a dream come true for me to be able to go and play against some of the best and do what I do best and that's make everybody happy. It's the best thing to ever happen.

Why did you go see Doug Collins after the game?
We all know his story and what he through and his Olympic experience and having a win and basically have it taken away from him. He's as important to this as we are to this. This is a gold for him also, not just us.

Can you talk about the intensity of the game?
The intensity of the game was unbelievable. Like I said, every possession counted. Every rebound, every pass, every shot. I mean, every defensive possession, every offensive possession. It will probably go down in history as one of the greatest Olympic games ever. We made big plays. We went up nine then they came back and hit a three. We hit another three and then they came back and hit two more threes. Now it's a four-point game, and then Kobe hit a four-point play and then we're up four, and D-Wade gets a wide open three and put us up seven and then they came back and hit a three. I mean, the game was never … I'm watching the game all over again in my head … it was at a point where we were about to pull away and something happens that we couldn't pull away so the intensity was unbelievable. I think you guys felt the intensity of the game, so if you guys felt it, then you know how crazy it was for us.

Closing comments
On behalf of us 12 guys, Mr. Colangelo, Coach K, we want to thank you all for being part of 2008, and now we're out of here.

Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks)
Was this your last game for USA Basketball?
This is it. I want to leave that record right where it's at.

Why was this team able to accomplish what you did when the team in 2004 couldn't?
We had one ego and that is the team ego. We want to play as a team. The biggest thing when I have played in the Olympics in 2000 is that we were a team. And we had some guys step up, McDyess stepped up for us. Our whole bench this year played big, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade they were huge. Those guys didn't start, but they played huge for us in a lot of different games. That's the biggest thing that I could relate to these guys and that is when you are out there play hard as a team. Some nights you'll play a lot of minutes and some nights you might not make shots but you can cheer your teammates on there is no better feeling.

Were you worried late in the game?
No we weren't worried, not with Kobe out there. He always makes the timely shot and he's done throughout his career. He made a big four point play for us. Spain is a very good team. The game we played earlier, well pool play doesn't count. They are a lot better than that game and they showed it tonight.

Which gold medal gives you more satisfaction--this one or 2000?
Well, because this is the moment, 2008. 2000 was unbelievable but this is the moment right now and this is something I will cherish for a long time because the next time I watch the Olympics or the Worlds, I can say I played with those guys and won a Gold Medal.

What was going through your mind in the closing seconds of the game?
Where we came from as a group.Me joining them last summer. The excitement of this game and the closeness that this team has. With all the great players and the egos we became one ego, a team ego and that growth was a beautiful thing to see.

Would you say that winning in 2000 was more a sense of relief and that 2008 is more a sense of joy?
Relief? Yeah because we knew how close we came to losing. Here, this is more ....for the guys who lost in '04, they were hungry and that made everyone else hungry. There are no guarantees and we saw that for Spain. It is a great feeling to win this one.

Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets)
Would you like to play in the 2012 Olympics?
Most definitely. If the opportunity is there for me, if USA Basketball will have me, I would defintely like to play again to defend this in 2012.

What will you do with your medal?
I am going to take it home, but right now I'm going to wear it everywhere I go. I'm going to wear it anywhere I go tonight, anywhere I go the next week or two, then I'll put in a safe spot in my house.

Whose idea was it for everybody to go the press conference?
All of ours. We just said it's been a team thing since the beginning of this so why not keep it like that.

What went through your mind in the closing seconds of the game?
I was thinking it's really happening. My first focus was to grab the game ball. I went and grabbed the game ball and then they ran up and took it away from me. Just knowing that we were on the top of the world. We weren't just the best team in North Carolina or Louisiana or the NBA. We're the best team in the entire world right now and there is no better feeling.

This team has come a long way. We had a lot of blowouts the first few games, so it was fitting for this one to be a close one. It was a real test to see what we're all about and n the end we showed we're the best in the world.

Does this portend a good future for USA Basketball?
Oh yes. I think this will be contagious. It will rub off on a lot of people and guys will see how much fun we had and be like, man I want to be a part of that.

Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons)
What did you think of this game?
Well I thought that not only did we earn this gold medal, but that it was probably one of the best Olympic games ever. That's what was going through my head at the end of the game. I enjoyed it but I kept thinking I might have been part of one of the best Olympic basketball games for all time.

Both teams never game up the entire game. Both teams never gave up. Both teams shot a high percentage. A different player on each team always came down the court and made a great play, whether it was D. Wade or LeBron, Kobe, Chris Bosh playing defense or rebounding, or Rudy Fernandez or Navarro or both the Gasols. It seemed like every time somebody always made a spectacular play to cut our lead down or put our lead up a little bit more.

What was the feeling when they hung the medal around your neck?
It is a once in a lifetime thing. I know it has to be more of an amazing thing to those guys who were on the '04 team. I can't really speak for them, but this has to be one of the best ever moments for them. I know it was for me, but for them to go through what they did in '04 and have to wait four years....I knew it was going to be p to those guys to lead us and they did their part.

How does this compare to your NBA title?
They are different feelings because as I was saying earlier, we represent our country here. When we win an NBA championship, we represent our organization, our city, our state. We're representing the NBA, but here we're representing our country. Everybody is rooting for us. It's not like in the NBA where you have Detroit fans, Boston fans, Miami fans. When you play for the USA, everybody in the United States is rooting you on. And when you win the gold medal, you're talking about playing the other countries and being on top, on top of the world.

Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks)
What were you feeling on the medal stand?
Words can't describe that feeling. Emotions, goose bumps, it was amazing to be crowned world champions, Olympic gold medalists. It was great.

Everyone seems as excited as kids in a candy store right now:
For all that we've been through the last three years, the last four years, to reach the pinnacle, to win, means everything to us. All the sacrifice, all the blood, all the sweat and the tears, words can't describe how you feel. It was definitely all worth it.

On the fan support:
I think our play spoke a lot. We didn't do anything that was in bad character, on or off the court. We represented our country in a respectful way. We played with grace, played with passion and it feels to get the support of our fans in America as well as the fans around the world.

How was your overall Olympic experience?
It's been remarkable. I've been enjoying the culture somewhat. I've been enjoying my teammates more than anything. I've had the chance to go see some of the other Olympic events, watch how fantastic athletes are around the world. It's an awesome, awesome experience.

Would you come back and do this over again?
Oh wow! We were all in the locker room saying we gotta repeat. That's the theme right now. Who knows what's going to happen four years from now but obviously we all want to repeat. This has all been worth it, we're the champs!

Is that gold medal a great birthday present?
It's an unbelievable birthday present, This is an awesome way to cap the last three years, playing hard like tonight, playing the right way..and this is the benefit.

How did it feel when they draped that gold around your neck?
All kinds of emotions. You want to cry, you want to laugh, you want to smile. It was amazing to see our flag raised and to know that you are the best team in the world.

Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)
You've gone through a lot in the last four years. How does this feel?
This feels great. Everything we've been through up to this point is worth it. It's worth it to have this feeling of being on top. We did this together as a team, which is what makes it feel that much better.

It's been awhile since a USA men's gold medal winning team has been this excited to win gold:
We haven't won in eight years. There's been a lot of doubts about USA Basketball, about NBA players, about if we could do it together, if the world was better than us. I think we proved our dominance. Spain gave us a great game. We wouldn't want to go out any other way.

On the fan support:
That's what we really wanted to do, on and off the basketball court. We wanted to show people that we're not bad people, we're just viewed that way. Once people get the opportunity to see us, see how we interact, see us together, they get to see how we're just like them. We're fans just like they're fans. We're human so we wanted to restore that.

What has this Olympic experience been like overall?
It's the best experience I've ever had. When it comes to the game of basketball, it's taken me to a lot of places in my life and it's taken me to the top of being the best in the world. I feel great!

On his play against Spain:
Guys got into foul trouble, Kobe got into foul trouble and they had to go to the bench. Our team, the guys on the bench understand that so we had to step up. They were putting all in my hand and I felt that I haven't had a good game in the lasts two games so I really made it a point to come out, be very aggressive from the start , got into a rhythm early and it just kept going.

Spain cut it to two in the fourth quarter. Were you worried?
I wasn't worried at all. In the NBA we get a lot of games cut to two but knowing that we have the game cut to two and you have some of the best players in the world, guys who make big shots, make big plays, I really wasn't worried. I just knew we had to get a basket. That four-point play by Kobe was huge.

Can you talk about winning that gold medal after everything you've been through?
Dwyane Wade: The moment is special. The three of us took time afterward and just took the moment in. Because of being a part of the '04 team, we didn't really get an opportunity to showcase our talent. We really wanted to come help and lead this team and we had some great guys that helped us along the way with leaders. I could name everybody. So, this is great to be a part of this.

LeBron James: To touch on what D-Wade said. After 2004, we touched base with each other and said that we wanted to make a commitment to be part of USA Basketball and try to accomplish something that we've never done before, and that's win a gold medal. Once we came together and said we wanted to do it, we put our time, we put our heart, we gave up our summers to sacrifice, playing the game of basketball " which we love to do. To finally come through and win the gold medal, not just for us as individuals but for everyone in America, it means a lot.

Deron Williams (Utah Jazz)
On today's game:
I have to tip my hat to Spain. They came out and played their heart out without Calderon. They gave us a tough test, which we haven't had all year so you have to give credit to them.

What does that medal feel like?
It feels like gold! It's heavy, it feels great. It was a lot of hard work. We put a lot into this. We've been (together) for a month now, 28 days away from my kids, I can't wait to get back to see them. We put a lot of work and effort into and it all paid off.

It feels great for us to be the only anthem being played, we represented our country the right way.

On his overall Olympic experience:
It's been a great experience for me, a lifetime experience. Something I'm going to cherish the rest of my life. It makes it so much sweeter now that I have the gold medal around my neck. I have stories to tell my kids. It's kind of surreal right now to think that I'm an Olympic champion.

Where does this rank in your athletic career?
No. 1 on my list. I don't have an NBA championship, I don't have a college championship. But even if I did I'd still think the same. This is for your country, it's not for your team it's for your whole country, for a whole nation of people back home supporting us. For our troops overseas fighting for us. This is for everybody.