Lebron, Boozer, and Battier all agreed that the Duke legend had what it took to handle the pressure.
While nowadays Team USA losing or not winning gold in international tournaments is not too suprising to see with the rise of the international game, not so long ago the Americans were the staple of greatness in FIBA. So, when the Stars & Stripes botched the 2004 Olympics (winning the bronze) and the 2006 World Championship (third place), there was a sense of desperation.
With the 2008 Beijing Olympics looming, Mike Krzyzewski was tasked with forming a squad that would restore Team USA to its glory and world dominance. After Coach K’s failed first venture in 2006, the pressure was on to deliver.
Shane Battier, Krzyzewski’s former Duke prospect and member of the World Cup team, was blunt in assessing that Mike’s career would be affected by the outcome of the 2008 Olympic venture.
“Coach knows that his legacy is on the line,” said Battier. “As he preached to us at Duke, that’s only pressure if you call it that. Some would call it a challenge. Others would call it pressure.”
Built for this
Building his name at Duke University with the Blue Devils, Coach K was a staple name in the world of college basketball. However, he still had to prove himself on other grounds. The 2006 WC was a vast disappointment, but Mike would learn from it and adapt to be better for the next tournament.
“Yeah, you learn from those things,” Krzyzewski explained. “That’s what you do when you’re trying to build a program. The international game is a beautiful game, but you have to learn it, and we didn’t know it well enough back then.”
Another Duke alumn, Carlos Boozer, who was part of the 2008 Redeem Team, believed in Coach K handling the pressure and doing his job to the best of his abilities due to Mike’s background and mentality.
Coach K is used to the pressure; this is who he is,” Boozer added. “He went to Army, and there ain’t too much more pressure than that. Then he goes to Duke, where it’s an institution, where if you lose, they get you out. That’s pressure. And this is obviously the biggest stage in the world, and Coach is ready for it.”
Living up to the stakes
However, a coach could only do so much, as Coach K needed the best NBA stars to commit to him, show up, and play together. Thankfully, with a seasoned voice like Mike running the show, even the biggest names like LeBron James would get in line and sense the importance of the 2008 Olympics.
“Absolutely, there’s going to be pressure on Coach K,” LeBron said. “There’s going to be pressure on a lot of the players. I’m not one of those guys who believes in pressure. If we go out and do what we need to do every game, we’ll be fine.”
Thankfully for Coach K, his Redeem Team, led by LeBron, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and many other stars, would run through the tournament and bring back gold to the States
It was Team USA the world was accustomed to seeing on the grand stage, and Krzyewski could finally breathe a sigh of relief. His legacy was secured — and only improved in the following years, as Mike won two more gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
