Olympic Basketball: What It Means To Me

The Olympics are upon us. The sporting event that has everybody across the world glued to their televisions every four years. The only time that your entire country will root for every American team, as we see the greatest collection of athletes our country has to offer. There is one sport though that I have unbelievable patriotic passion for, basketball.

I am a guy who dislikes plenty of NBA players, and some are on the National Team (i.e DeMarcus Cousins) but I will be rooting for them come game time. I have grown up loving Olympic basketball and there was one experience, in 2008 that meant the most to me.

In 2004, the USA Olympic Basketball Team had one of the greatest flops ever, only picking up the bronze medal. I was only 2 years old at the time, so of course I didn’t watch the Olympics, but even if I did, I wouldn’t know what was going on. But in 2008, I was 6 years old and just starting to really enjoy sports, but one sport I wasn’t too fond off was Basketball, not because I didn’t like it, it was because I didn’t understand how it worked and why people cared so much about it. But come Olympic time, my family would go to the television to watch the 2008 “Redeem Team” play their games. Featuring a cast of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, etc, the team was absolutely stacked. As I watched this team play, I saw the high-flying dunks of Kobe and LBJ, the monstrous blocks by Boozer and Dwight, the nifty dimes of Chris Paul, and the deep threes by Deron Williams. I was mesmerized, it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. I started to enjoy it more and more by every game I watched, and by the championship game, I was a basketball fan, I didn’t know much, as I was a to-be First Grader but I enjoyed it and was a fan, just like that. But still, I have to give some credit to the 2012 Olympic Games for sparking more interest in basketball, although the 2008 Olympics was the one that lit the fire. So, in 2012, I was 10 years old and starting to play more basketball, at recess, lunch, and everyday at my house, thinking that I was on the 2012 USA Team, I would shoot from deep thinking I really was Kevin Durant or Melo, I would drive hard to the basket, thinking I am LeBron or Russell Westbrook. But after all that, I still wasn’t that knowledgeable about basketball, and that leads me to now.

As I sit in bed, writing this article, I am more than obsessed with the sport of basketball, I can name anything you want about basketball, I am a statistician and I can’t ever stop talking about it. With this year's Olympics, although most of the biggest NBA names are missing from the roster (Russell Westbrook, Curry, LBJ, Harden, Kawhi Leonard, CP3, D-Lillard and more), there are still stars playing and I will be able to enjoy them more than ever this year. I am thrilled for the Olympics, and that is what Olympic Basketball means to me.

Comment Below What Olympic Basketball Means To You!