L'Or à bout de bras

This documentary is truly beautiful, capturing the essence of the Olympic spirit. Having attended the Olympics myself, I can say there's an indescribable energy and passion that only those who experience it firsthand can understand. Unfortunately, the negativity from Serbian fans is overwhelming, they seem to be the sorest losers in sports, complaining everywhere, even on IMDb. Instead of appreciating great basketball, they focus on excuses. Kevin Durant, on the other hand, is the epitome of humility and leadership, proving once again why he is the best player on Team USA. It's simple, there is only one gold medal winner in Olympic basketball: Team USA.

Court of Gold does not contain layered or dramatic storylines - which is fine. The profound brilliance of this series is in the fact that it just simply archives some of the greatest basketball, Olympic, and sports moments in history, like:

• The closing of the chapter Lebron, Durant, and Curry Era
• The 'Steph Curry Shot' heard around the world (Is he Top 10 All-Time, now?)
• The sport of Basketball as the potential #1 international sport in the future
• American Black Swag vs. The World
• And (obviously) the beginning of the 'Wemby Era'

As a viewer, you must watch with the understanding that the docuseries serves as a still shot in time, not as a multilayered documentary. Appreciate as a viewer, the art in which the players play the game and merely experience an actual historical paradigm shift in basketball, Olympic, and sports history.

To the nostalgic critics and disappointment haters... it is a Netflix sports documentary. Chill out!

I probably would have rated this series even higher if I was more of an NBA fan. I wasn't overly interested in these players coming into this docuseries, but some of the stories and players were compelling. I really love the Olympics, so any time I get to watch athletes represent their country I am entertained. Don't get turned off by a slow start to this series, it builds to a finale just like the games do. I'm glad there is focus on a variety of nations and not just Team USA. My only major complaint is that I wish South Sudan was featured, that would have made the series even better I'm sure. Overall I highly recommend this for fans of any sport.

Title: Selective Storytelling - Ignoring the Biggest Controversy

Review:

Netflix had the opportunity to create a groundbreaking documentary about the greatest basketball tournament in history. They had unprecedented access to players, locker rooms, and behind-the-scenes moments, yet they failed to tell the full story.

The series does a great job highlighting controversial officiating when Canada was robbed against France. The main referee of that game? Ademir Zurapovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina. But somehow, when the same referee was at the center of the even bigger scandal in the Serbia-USA semifinal, the documentary goes completely silent.

For everyone outside the USA (and countries that dislike Serbia), the main takeaway from that game was the biased officiating by referees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Panama. Yet, this series makes no mention of it. In 10 years, anyone watching will think Serbia vs. USA was a fair battle, when in reality, it was heavily influenced by questionable calls.

Netflix had all the tools to make a great series, but by ignoring the truth, they turned it into just another sanitized sports documentary.

This was a very enjoyable docuseries that followed four great teams during their time in the Paris Olympics. I really liked seeing more about other countries besides just the USA. To get to know the players and coaches for the other national teams was a great insight to the personalities of lesser known players. Seeing interviews with guys like Steve Nash and Tony Parker was a great way to contextualize basketball history on this Olympic stage.

I would have liked a little more insight to the group play of the teams. It would have been great to see more about Canada going 3-0. Since these episodes all varied in length, it definitely could have been added into the earlier episodes. But there was plenty of other great material included.

There was a great episode that got into the history of Serbia and the breaking up of Yugoslavia as well. I learned a lot that I never knew before, and got unique insight through the lens of sport and the Olympics.

The final episode really delivers, too. I love how much it allowed Steph the glory for his amazing moment in the gold medal game. A historic and close to an unforgettable game.

And, finally, shout out to KD. That man lives and breathes basketball, and seeing that level of passion for not only the sport but the camaraderie it brings is inspiring.