Das Redeem-Team

I'm not going to pretend I know about all the history of all the NBA players so my perception might be off, but I enjoyed this documentary. It shows the intentions, personalities, and most of all humbleness of players when playing for something greater than themselves. In the NBA, many of these players are perceived to be best of the best, which results in development of inflated egos. To watch the journey of them temporarily putting it down for the benefit of others, fosters that belief that we as humans aren't always selfish.

There's a growing tumor of entitlement that been slowly festering in American culture. Watching the journey the team went through to overcome the difficulties is refreshing as well as inspiring.

Nice recap and highlight reel of the Redeem Team's 2008 Olympic run, but aside from that, it was a somewhat hollow rehashing of events. The documentary didn't tell us anything we didn't already know about this team. There was no greater message to take away from this event.

Since the first series of ESPN 30 for 30 was released, the standard for sports documentaries has been raised and ths doc didn't come close to that standard. The level of journalism here amounts to nothing more than an NBA Championship DVD.

Documentarians need to understand that the biggest stars and teams don't always make the best documentary subjects and this is a prime example.

Team USA definitely deserved the gold medal in this Olympics but my biggest takeaway tells me that there are major cracks in USA Basketball development programs and how the AAU is ruining American basketball. It was embarrassing to see a team of nearly-all Hall of Famers pounding their chests and talking trash about beating a Spanish team led by one NBA Hall of Famer, an all-star, and a group of fringe NBA role players and benchwarmers. USA needed every single ounce of effort that LeBron and Kobe gave to win that medal or else they wouldn't have been enough to beat Spain.

A more interesting documentary might be how Team USA has become a victim of its own success and how the 1992 Dream Team inspired a legion of international players to take on and beat Team USA.

It's an ok piece of film work, gives some historical context, and has some good and interesting behind-the-scene insights into the motivations and mindsets of coach K and some of the players.

But for a documentary which is trying to make the point that teamwork, camaraderie and chemistry are the most important ingredients in a successful team, it sure does a terrible job at including all players as an integral part. The film hypocritically preaches team spirit, then goes on to single out the individual contributions of 3-6 players at every possible turn, while pretty much ignoring the rest of the team.

So who was on the team? Yes, Kobe, LeBron, D-Wade, Melo, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer

But also:

• Jason Kidd
• Deron Williams
• Michael Redd
• Dwight Howard
• Chris Paul
• Tayshaun Prince

It could have been a lot better, if all players had been interviewed, or if they actually didn't want to (which I doubt), then at least give them their separate spotlight on the court. They were on the team, they made it work as well, they had their moments, not just the "main" characters.

Jon Weinbach (who was one of the producers of The Last Dance) showcases the journey of redemption for the U. S. Olympic Men's Basketball team and tells us why we refer to this team as one of the greatest ever. We get perspective from all the key folks involved, including coaches, announcers, and the players themselves. I stopped watching the NBA in 2006, and gave up playing the yearly EA Sports videogames too, eventually. But this piece is such a well-made throwback to something that took the Olympic games by storm and reinstates why Kobe Bryant is among the all-time greats in the game of basketball. To hear from the top guys (including Chris Paul, Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and more) adds much-needed depth to the story, and gives everyone who loves the game plenty to cheer about.

The games themselves prove to be more about Kobe's workmanship than anything else. While the main ingredient here is missing (i.e. Sitdown interviews with Kobe), it still has enough for anyone who enjoyed the game in the 2000s and still harbors a liking to the GOATs of that particular era. Also, they've included some brilliant cutaways during the end credits.

The NBA represents the best of the best in basketball. Every kid with a gaming console knows it. So when America gets beaten at one of their own national sport, it's incredibly humbling, and embarrassing.

The Redeem Team tells a gripping behind-the-scenes look at how individual superstars came together as a team, so that the American flag, and anthem, could return back to the gold medal podium. The leadership, the stepping up, the discipline, the pride of the country over individual egos... all for America... is an incredible story put together brilliantly in this documentary.

A very good sports documentary indeed that's more than worth your time.