The men's national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. They qualified for the Olympics by winning the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team was nicknamed the "Redeem Team", a play on the "Dream Team" name for the 1992 U.S. Olympic team, and a reference to the fact that the United States came away with disappointing bronze medals during the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Former Phoenix Suns chairman and CEO Jerry Colangelo was named managing director of the national team program by the USA Basketball Executive Committee in 2005. Kobe Bryant was named the team captain and Mike Krzyzewski was named the head coach of the 2008 team. An ESPN program, Road to Redemption, followed the team's preparations. Additionally, a Netflix produced documentary titled The Redeem Team was released in 2022.

The United States defeated Spain 118–107 in the final to win the gold. Dwyane Wade was the leading scorer for Team USA, averaging 16 points per game.

After the 2004 Olympics, USA Basketball initiated a long-term project that saw players committing to play for the team long before the start of the 2008 Olympics, instead of hastily accepting invitations merely weeks prior to the start of the tournament. Many 2008 Olympians participated in the 2007 Americas championships, where the US won gold, thus qualifying for the Olympics.

In September 2025, the entire team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, with two of its members, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, also being inducted as players at that time. With the Hall of Fame inductions, six players (Anthony, Chris Bosh, Bryant, Howard, Jason Kidd, and Wade) and two coaches (Jim Boeheim and Krzyzewski) have been inducted individually into the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Record

Preparation Matches: USA Basketball International Challenge July 25, 2008 120 – 65 Thomas & Mack Center, Las VegasJuly 31, 2008 114 – 82 Cotai Arena, MacauAugust 1, 2008 120 – 84 Cotai Arena, MacauAugust 3, 2008 89 – 68 Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, ShanghaiAugust 5, 2008 87 – 76 Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Shanghai

Preliminary round

The team competed in Group B of the preliminary round.

August 10, 2008 101 – 70 Wukesong Indoor Stadium, BeijingAugust 12, 2008 76 – 97 Wukesong Indoor Stadium, BeijingAugust 14, 2008 92 – 69 Wukesong Indoor Stadium, BeijingAugust 16, 2008 82 – 119 Wukesong Indoor Stadium, BeijingAugust 18, 2008 106 – 57 Wukesong Indoor Stadium, Beijing

Tournament bracket

Roster

References

External links

USA Basketball, official site The Redeem Team, 2022 Netflix documentary