Dwyane Wade Working On A Documentary On The 'Redeem Team'
Dwyane Wade is producing a documentary on the "Redeem Team," the United States men's national basketball team that won a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
“It’s something that we’ve been working on for the last year or so,” Wade said on the Platform Basketball podcast. “For me, that was a big year, 2008. I had to kind of redeem myself, because everybody thought I was done."
The 'Redeem Team,' led by Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Wade, went undefeated, making up for an embarrassing showing at the 2004 Olympic Games in which the men's basketball team won the bronze medal.
Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in January, was the captain of the 'Redeem Team.'
Winning that summer meant a lot to him, especially considering the Lakers had just fallen to the Boston Celtics in The Finals in 2008.
He responded by pouring all of his attention into his first Olympic Games and said that winning a gold medal would mean more to him than a championship.
"I think winning a gold medal is more important because you're playing for your country," Bryant said at training camp with the U.S. men’s basketball team in Las Vegas in 2008. "You're not playing for a region or a state or a brand. You are playing for the United States of America."
Bryant, a five-time NBA champion with the Lakers, went on to win two Olympic gold medals.
Spending time with Bryant during the summer of 2008 was very meaningful to James.
After winning the All-Star game in February, James said they really bonded off of the court in 2008.
"We were able to see Michael Phelps swim," James said. "We were able to see the women's national team play a lot of their games. We were able to go around track and field. We did a lot of things besides play basketball."
Wade added that the 'Redeem Team' was truly an incredible group.
"That was an amazing time, man, and, like, that team, dog? Oh my gosh. That team was special,” he said.
