Dwyane Wade said the new Redeem Team documentary on the 2008 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team “shines a light” on Kobe Bryant, whom Wade called the leader of the team that took gold.
“One of the things that for me that was very important was how we told Kobe Bryant’s story throughout this, in the midst of the team story,” Wade told the audience at a Hollywood film screening Thursday, before it premieres on Netflix on Oct. 7. “To me, that was a very sensitive moment at that time, but a beautiful arc, a beautiful story.”
Wade was part of the U.S. team that took bronze at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the first time a U.S. team of NBA players lost in Olympic play. The Americans, with Wade, also took bronze at the 2006 World Championship.
Then Bryant joined the team for the 2008 Beijing Games and said he valued a gold medal over an NBA title.
“A lot of us know that we lost a couple of years, and our big brother had to come and save us – is probably what Kobe told everybody,” Wade joked to the audience Thursday. “But it was a beautiful journey.”
Wade and LeBron James, another Olympian in 2004 and 2008 (and 2012), are among the film’s executive producers.
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In 2004, the US Olympic Men's Basketball team lost the gold and sought redemption in Beijing 2008. @KingJames, @DwyaneWade, and Kobe Bryant led The Redeem Team. This is that story. #TUDUM pic.twitter.com/95MCsOQ6h3
— Netflix (@netflix) September 24, 2022