Dream Team
September 1, 2006 05:54 PM
I admit, Team USA's loss to Greece in their semifinal game at the World Basketball Championships is disheartening. Losing their third major tournament appearance in a row and an automatic berth to the 2008 Olympics certainly explains the dour looks on the players' faces.
Still, I'm feeling upbeat. Maybe the fact that I saw Invincible last night has affected my outlook, but I really think this team has the makings of a champion. A couple years from now, they will probably make a feel-good sports film about this team, in the same vein as Rudy, Hoosiers, and Miracle. And how does this latest loss fit in to the plot? It's only the end of the second act.
Dream Team, Act I
It is a gloomy time for USA Basketball. An embarassing sixth-place finish in the 2002 World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics has the country wondering—has the world finally overtaken America's basketball prowess? Can USA Basketball ever hope to put together a Dream Team of egotistical NBA players that can match the cohesiveness and selfless play of countries like Greece and Argentina? That question weighs heavily on the hearts of all (yes, all) Americans—cue shots of workers walking listlessly to their offices; housewives sighing heavily and looking to setting sun; children sitting forlornly around empty asphalt basketball courts.
Into these dark circumstances enter a glimmer of hope: the Legendary Coach (Coach K-I-don't-know-how-to-spell-the-rest-and-neither-do-you). He's proven that he's a winner, but will he be able to deal with the conflicting egos of NBA stars? He's unorthodox, choosing to beat the World at their own game—a team-oriented style of play. But will it be enough to change the fortunes of USA Basketball anytime soon?
Dream Team, Act II
The Team is assembled, composed of NBA and college stars and role players. They train together. They get to know each other. They fight with each other. They privately question the coach, and even more privately, themselves.
We focus, of course, on one player: the Young Legend-in-the-Making (Lebron James), who was tapped to be the face of the NBA even before his first game. He stands in the shadow of the Legendary One, Michael Jordan, who led the first Dream Team to gold at the 1992 Olympics (cue shots of a brooding Lebron transfixed on a poster of Jordan and the rest of the 1992 Dream Team late into the night). Lebron questions if he will ever be able to escape Jordan's shadow and build his own legacy. Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony will be legends in their own right, but escaping Jordan's shadow is Lebron's burden alone. He is the Air Apparent.
The team meets with initial success, winning their first games together and playing remarkably well at the 2006 World Championships, making it into the semi-finals having overcome the likes of the Giant (Dirk Nowitzki). They have learned to play together and to like each other.
And then, in a stunning twist, Greece decisively beats Team USA, knocking them out of the tournament and denying them an automatic berth to the Big Game, the 2008 Olympics (specifically, the gold medal game). After coming so far, after everything seems to be so right, the team's confidence is crushed, and they begin to give in to their doubts.
Dream Team, Act III
It is the Legendary Coach who takes the first steps in putting the pieces of the team back together. His own confidence is shaken, but he must show strength to the team, urging them to come back together, to realize that all is not lost, that they will learn from the loss and be reforged into something stronger. The hardest hit, of course, is the Young Legend, who questions whether or not he is up to the great task before him. Enter someone who will encourage him to persevere. I'm not sure who this will be yet. It may be Legendary One. Or perhaps, the Fallen Legend (Kobe Bryant)—the man who rejected the mantle of Air Apparent, choosing to create his own legacy. Whichever the case, the lesson will be the same: greatness comes to not to the one who looks to the legend of another, but to the legend within. Renewed, refocused, he leads the team on to the 2008 Olympics where, appropriately, they face Greece again in tournament play. They overcome the Greeks and move on to the Big Game, where they come face-to-face with the Ultimate Test—perhaps Argentina, or Germany.
Of course, they win it all, as the soundtrack crescendos into an uplifting climax of strings.
And while his teammates celebrate exuberantly, the Young Legend smiles quietly, knowing that he has finally stepped out of the Legendary One's shadow and into the light of his own path.
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