2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Reveals Lakers Legend Had To Vouch For Him To Make Roster
Looking back at the 2012 men's basketball team that represented Team USA in the Olympics, it is truly phenomenal to see just how many NBA superstars stepped foot on the court and all played under the same head coach. Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant returned in hunt of yet another gold medal but he was joined by the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and so many other future hall of famers.
Everybody that tuned into the Netflix-exclusive documentary about the 2008 'Redeem' team knows how special it was for a number of these stars to play alongside Bryant and a number of them had to run it back in London with him. During the four years between the tournaments, the Black Mamba was able to bring two more championships to the city of Los Angeles and even though he was starting to get up in there in age, he revolutionized his game to help his body.
However, Bryant always paid due to some of the NBA's best defenders that were tasked with the responsibility of guarding him and he made sure to share that information with Team USA's scouts.
In fact, former Finals MVP Andre Iguodala recently hopped on the 'Gil's Arena' show and revealed that he only made the 2012 Team US roster because Bryant put in a good word for him.
"The only reason I made the olympic team in 2012," said Iguodala. "Was because Kobe Bryant was like this is the best defender in the league. And then I never made an all-defensive first team."
(Via Gil's Arena)
Iguodala came into the NBA with quite the versatile skillset as he was able to score at different points on the floor and could rise up with the best of athletes.
However, as his career progressed, he became more of a three and d option and specifically focused on shutting down the best opposing players when he got to Golden State due to them having enough scorers.
During his time in Philadelphia and Denver, Iggy matched up against Kobe plenty of times and definitely left his mark!
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