Team USA's performance in the 2008 Olympics has been compared to that of the 1992 Dream Team, which is considered one of the greatest ever national basketball teams.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski led the "Redeem Team" of 2008, which included Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant, among others. According to Ian O'Connor's new book Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski, LeBron and Coach K tensely discussed Kobe's selfish shot selection during the 2008 Summer Olympics.
“Everyone knew it,” said one Team USA staffer, according to O’Connor. “They know when another player is being selfish. Players can police themselves, but in this instance, as LeBron was coming out of the game, he said to Mike, ‘Yo, Coach, you’d better fix that motherf—–,’ as he walks by. He was talking about Kobe.”
On the morning of the next day, Krzyzewski informed Kobe that he needed to speak to him. In response to Kobe telling him that he was taking "bullshit shots" and that he needed to move more, the Lakers star promised to change.
“Bryant just looked right at him and said, ‘I got it, Coach. I got it. Don’t worry about it. I apologize,'" a team source said, according to O'Connor. After this exchange, Coach K revealed that LeBron and Kobe had no bad blood, and the 2008 Olympic team won gold.
James, who had no college coaching experience, learns how to rally a team of NBA stars in other sections of the book. In his last season at Duke, Coach K announced he would retire last year.
Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski is available at Amazon.