The U.S. men's basketball team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, commonly known as the "Dream Eight Team", is definitely one of the most luxurious lineups in the history of the U.S. men's basketball team, and its luxury is no less than that of the Dream First Team. There is a certain historical reason for the absolute luxury of the Dream Eight team, the reason is that the Dream Six team of the 2004 Athens Olympics and the Dream Seven team of the 2006 World Championships failed to win the final gold medal, so the Dream Eight team is an absolute luxury lineup formed for the gold medal.
It can be said that the formation of the Dream Eight team is a standard: supergiant. It is necessary to network all the American superstars who were playing in the NBA at that time into the lineup of the American men's basketball team. Of course, there are only 12 places in the squad, so naturally there are people who can't pass the fierce competition.
Iverson, Maddy, Marbury, and Duncan were not selected
The final 12-man roster of the Dream Eight team is Howard, Bosh, and Boozer on the inside, James, Anthony, and Prince on the front, and Kidd, Kobe, Paul, Wade, Reed, and Deron Williams on the guard line.
In this lineup, the NBA's four-time scoring champion Iverson, two-time scoring champion Maddy, super guard Marbury and interior giant Duncan all missed this lineup! It can only be said that the selection of the Dream Eight team at that time was too strict. Iverson, Marbury, and Duncan's defeat have a certain relationship with the loss of the previous game for the U.S. men's basketball team, and the other is that all three of them entered the NBA around 96 or 97, and they were all veterans in 2008, and the stars of the 03 generation have completely risen, and there is no place for them.
Paul Wade only played as a substitute
The starting lineup for the Dream Eight team is Kidd, Kobe, James, Anthony and Howard. In this lineup, Kobe Bryant is the absolute boss, and the opening ceremony is all about exclusive TV broadcast cameras. In this lineup, Wade, who led the Heat to win the NBA championship in 2004, and Paul, who is in good shape, can only play as substitutes. NBA gods like Prince and Boozer are basically difficult to get consistent playing time on the team.
Win the championship all
The Dream Eight team had such a luxurious lineup that they finally defeated the 2006 world champion Spain to win the championship, and left a classic scene in the history of the Olympic finals. The Olympic Games were also the pinnacle of the Chinese men's basketball team, and the first game of basketball also left an indelible impression on Chinese fans.