When Mike Krzyzewski was given the task by general manager of the USA basketball, Jerry Colangelo, to bring the program back to its former glory, many were skeptical.
The coach who won three NCAA titles at the time with Duke had absolutely no experience coaching NBA players, even though he was part of the staff during the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
Back then, he saw firsthand how Chuck Daly worked with the best players in the world and their egos. But it’s one thing to watch and another to actually coach them, especially when you’ve spent your whole career working with kids who don’t have anywhere near the kind of egos that NBA superstars do.
Melo was eager to prove doubters wrong
Carmelo Anthony was one of those who had experienced failure at the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 FIBA World Cup and he admitted that he had doubts about Coach K. But he also had a strong desire to bring USA Basketball back to the top.
“I would say building that team, once we got the team and everybody still tryna figure out how we gonna mesh, what role they gonna play, what they gonna do, what they gonna bring to this team. Egos are at an all-time high level, right, pride is there and you have guys from ’04, ’05, ’06 who lost and you have guys who came on to help that group,” Melo said on the “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony” podcast.
“Coach K is up there, he’s doing his thing. I know Coach K said one thing — that’s when we realized we could be the best team of all time. He said, ‘I need you guys not to leave your ego at the door. Most people would tell you to leave your ego at the door. In order for us to be who we’re gonna be, I need your ego, but check it at the door. I need you to be who you are in order for us to make this work.’” Melo added.
“FIBA Melo” was born in 2008
Just like in 1992, when Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley brought Team USA back to glory after losses at the 1988 Olympics and the 1990 FIBA World Cup, the same thing happened with “FIBA Melo”, who became one of the key players on that 2008 Redeem Team.
But Carmelo wasn’t the only one hungry for success. As he himself recalled, the tryouts for the Redeem Team were intense, to say the least.
“Now we get to ’06 and we gotta put another whole team together. Now it was tryouts; we don’t know what the f—k is going on. It was like they were trying to kill for a spot. It was like a real NBA tryout. So now when we get to ’07, we get serious, we put a structure around USA Basketball, you gotta commit three years,” Melo said.
Krzyzewski had to deal with a bunch of egos
The 2008 tournament in Beijing was a matter of pride and restoring the reputation of USA Basketball. Krzyzewski knew that and as the great coach he is, he immediately recognized what it would take to make that happen.
After all, he had seen firsthand how the 1992 Dream Team committed fully, even though everyone expected them to dominate.
It was also the first time Kobe Bryant played for Team USA at the Olympics, which meant only one thing – nothing but gold would be acceptable. Despite his experience and basketball IQ, Krzyzewski was dealing with 12 All-Star caliber players, each the leader and primary decision-maker for their own franchise.
Krzyzewski had to deal with a bunch of egos
The 2008 tournament in Beijing was a matter of pride and restoring the reputation of USA Basketball. Krzyzewski knew that and as the great coach he is, he immediately recognized what it would take to make that happen.
After all, he had seen firsthand how the 1992 Dream Team committed fully, even though everyone expected them to dominate.
It was also the first time Kobe Bryant played for Team USA at the Olympics, which meant only one thing – nothing but gold would be acceptable. Despite his experience and basketball IQ, Krzyzewski was dealing with 12 All-Star caliber players, each the leader and primary decision-maker for their own franchise.
Krzyzewski reestablished USA Basketball dominance
The failures of 2004 and 2006 showed that having big names alone wasn’t enough. It took true coaching to make everything click. In the end, Team USA had been losing tournaments despite having players like LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Anthony himself.
That’s where Coach K’s greatness truly showed.
He faced off the difficult challenge of managing a locker room full of egos and boy did he prove it. After the 2008 Olympics, Team USA reestablished its dominance and is currently on a run of five straight Olympic gold medals, with both Coach K and Melo being part of three of them.
