 The redeem team documentary set to release on October 7th on Netflix sparked this video creation So I went back and looked at each redeem team member and all these NBA legends had a story to tell on Kobe Bryant and they all fit in so here's the craziest Kobe Bryant Olympic story that you've ever heard If you enjoy these types of videos Please help me out by hitting that like button subscribe if you are new get your popcorn sit back and relax and Welcome to the craziest 2008 dream team Kobe Bryant story Let's talk a little bit about the big picture for USA basketball last couple of Olympics that you were not a part of Maybe the reputation wasn't the greatest in the world. This is a different team, isn't it? It is a different team I think it's a different attitude. I think it's And we understand the significance and the importance of representing our country. I think that was something that was Maybe missing on those past teams. It was ugly to watch. It was terrible to be a part of I had a lot of concerns that's why we recruited Kobe Bryant a lot of it really falls on me because you know I'm wiser of the guys. I haven't been around for so many years So, you know, most of the time I set the tone in practice. I'd like to share a lesson. I learned from It was 2008 the redeem team was born And we were in Vegas for the start of training camp and we're getting ready for the Olympics in Beijing We're gonna head to Beijing And this is when I knew Kobe was a monster though. You hear about it You hear about it, but you really if you don't see it, you really really don't know So 2008 Olympics was right after he he and the Lakers got beat by the Celtics We were in the player lounge like playing cards. There was four of us playing spades and And he came in and there was a little wine sat down board itself a glass and he like saw this newspaper And saw a picture. It was like something about the Lakers series and blah blah blah and it was a picture of Paul Pierce Like celebrating and there was a picture of Paul Pierce. So they had just lost to the Celtics in the finals like Tragically and in a very, you know, gut-wrenching way. You remember they like blew a lead. It was not good But Kobe Bryant sits down and pours a glass of wine. We're like what the fuck, you know And he got very competitive with drinking the wine And it was like he didn't want to be behind anybody on these glasses and we were like Kobe You know, we got practice tomorrow. We're just sipping and I just remember watching Kobe Just stir the pot the whole time. You know how Kobe does. Nope. He was like into this wine He's I've had three glasses. You've only had one and I was like that's cuz I'm small And he literally like he didn't say a word. He didn't say anything But we saw him like take the paper. He started cutting out the pop your picture, you know ripped out this picture He like folded it up and he put it in his pocket And he was like it's motivation for next year But like dead ass serious and we were like, okay, okay And then he proceeded to like chug his wine pour another glass Chug it Pour the third and he was like basically like he looks over and he's like now I'm one ahead of you guys We're like And again, it was just this glimpse into like how he worked how he functioned. Oh That's what like that's who he is like that's what this is like this is who Kobe Bryant is, you know, it was funny And we were in Olympics, right? Yeah, when we We're starting to build a culture At USA basketball and he Chauncey Phillips and Jason Kidd were added to add Veteran leadership coach K did a great job of Preparing us, you know of getting us ready coach K I really want to say coach K led the charge on that one because he knew the moment in how serious it was You know, but at the same time we had the group of guys we had you didn't have to really worry about that You know with with LeBron Kobe D way come out low and you know those those guys were great guys Me and Cole became we became very close The one that I'm closest to from the team I look at him as a brother But he pulled me to the side in the Olympics and said you're bad motherfuckers like that you know I'm saying because He knew what it was already So for me as a young player for fire your four years in the league at that time It's nothing you want nothing more than somebody like that to come to you back That was respect so he did that I knew it took a lot out of him to tell me some shit like that So I took that and you know, I built on that and You know, I thought the word of him prior to my experience with him and playing with him even more so He just worked extremely hard competes But we became close on some like some disrespectful shit like going at your neck Going at your neck is saying shit to your elbow on you. I have my braids back then too. So he touched my head I'm like Don't touch my head like you know I'm saying like don't touch me no more dog your last summer use the butt of a lot of jokes And you know, he's he's he's smirking and you know, he's doing his little shit elbows He come back elbow me. I'll come back elbow him. He's gonna be physical with you He's gonna try to wear you down. He laughing talking about that's all you got You know, I'm saying it was just pushing your butt pushing my butt in the seat if I was that way I was gonna stand that I was just listening. I was just trying to soak everything up. I could You know, and I remember one thing that he said he was like if you want to try to be, you know Great at it. I want to be one of the greats. You got to put the work in You know, there's no substitution to work. And so we get into a city one of the cities very late and Immediately we all go to the gym, you know all my guys is you know, it's mellow It's me is Brian. It's Kobe. Like we all go to the gym. We all get out working. It's real late And so after we get done getting our work in me and my guys We said hey, like let's meet for breakfast in the morning And I wanted to establish myself as a young leader on the team by waking up bright and early Like if you can't sleep whoever first one wake up hit us up. We're gonna go eat day one so the goal was to be the first one at breakfast and So we probably get like three hours of sleep. You can't sleep much when you're traveling across the world You know, like we were traveling. So I set my alarm. I Make sure I'm about sunrise. I get out of bed. I put on my gear and I head down stairs And we get probably get like three hours of sleep and we we wake up We go down to where the food is as we walking down, you know, sloven with sleep in our eyes Kobe Bryant is sitting there. Kobe's already there With ice packs on his knees Drenched in sweat Right so we walk up to cold we like cold what what's up? He was like, uh, yeah, man I just finished finished the workout and I'm about to go do another one Now it took me a minute to figure it out, but this guy wasn't only awake before me He had already worked out at that moment. I was like wait, hold on We just worked out about three hours ago You know I mean and like you've done another workout and you about to go do another one He was up every morning at seven o'clock in the morning getting to lift in Going to the gym getting up shots going to get breakfast coming back for practice By himself every day and then coming back at night to get shots up He had just played in the finals days earlier. Meanwhile I'd been off for months and I was still exhausted What he had done that morning was incomprehensible to me That dedication he had only days after falling short of an NBA championship That taught me some I've never forgotten Legends aren't defined by their successes They're defined by how they bounce back from their failures That's when I was like, okay, I got to get my stuff together I got to get my shit together because this dude right here is on a whole different level Didn't even I'm on and I'm supposed to be great, right? So that's the kind of person he was and that's how he drove me You know I mean like this little stuff like that I went back and said, okay That mean I got to work hard and I got to do more At the first week of training camp for the for the Olympics in the way He was doing it by himself by the second week. We had the whole team there Yeah, man, it's contagious and that was our regimen from the second week of training camp To get ready for the Olympics all the way until we got the gold medal and we beat Spain and China That was the standard. He wanted to leave. He wanted to make sure that we all Achieved greatness. We put the work into it, you know when you see, you know at the time He was probably you know him and him and Him and LeBron are the best players in the world, you know arguably, you know It's kind of one of those battles went back and forth at the time So it was two different things that you had to worry about where LeBron it was Pick and roll at the pick and roll at the pick and roll. Well, Kobe, it was a matter of don't let him get to His sweet spot. He's going to beat you up for three quarters and so in the fourth quarter It'll be easier to get to his sweet spot. So you needed crazy stamina You see this man the work he's putting in the hours He's putting in the gym the extra shots. He's getting up. You can't help him. Like you're not going to go sit down On the sideline while he's still out here at 30, you know, see him doing that. You know, I'm 20 23 years old You know, I gotta get up there too, you know, and so it was great. It was great being able to work out with him Um to learn from him to talk to him pick his brain about things Um and then have a chance to compete with it You're gonna see how hard he worked how much he put into the game how good he how good he really is What was and so to be able to play with a guy who had everything offensively Who could have just demanded us to give him a ball every time down Was worried about defense in the olympics. Come on, bro. What am I gonna do? I'm gonna follow suit and And so that was one of my favorite things when he came to me He said that like I didn't care about starting them while I care about my moments when I got a chance to get on That court with cold because I knew what it was going to go down. I'm sure he knew that man You know, I know D this is tough for D way not to be starting on this team And cold came to me as he knew I was coming off the bench He came to me right away and he eased my mind. He was like, listen And he said hey D when you get in when you get in the game, it's me and you on the floor This is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna pick up the defender 94 feet. I'm a harassing. I'm a turn him I'm a turn him. I'm a turn him once I turn him you do what you do you come in Like shoot at him, you know what I mean like to come and trap or to come and get a steal You know and so I got so many steals and so many dunks and so much because of an unselfishness of a star in our league For me, I looked at that. I'm like, I'm a younger guy I'm the least you know accomplished guy in this group. I should be the one that you say He should have told me D you go pressure and I'm gonna do that But his mindset wasn't that way rover. Uh, his his trainer was talking about he would just Go on bike rides through the desert and just like really just work like just do wild stuff Just to get like his mentally repaired when Kobe was in the olympics in 2008 You took the role in l8 as a defensive stopper and then if they need you towards the end You would go out and close especially in l8 against spain Kobe right away said I'll play defense and in the first practice he never took a shot All Kobe cared about was defense all of a sudden there's a Knock on the door It's two days early And it's Kobe He said coach can Can I talk to you for a minute? And I said certainly so he went to a private room and I said, what do you need? He said I I need to ask you a favor And I said, yeah, what what is it? He said I want to guard The best perimeter player on every team that we play now. He's the NBA scoring champ He's the best player in the league at that time. He wanted to let everyone know That I'm here And I want to guard the best offensive player every time We go and we have a team meeting in the first practice. He doesn't take a shot He does not take one shot Mike's essentially coach k was the coach and he pulled Kobe and myself over and he said So I call him over afterwards and said, you know, yo, Kobe You're actually going to have open shots Will you shoot the freaking ball? And Kobe said I've been playing this game for I don't know how many years I've never had an open shot He goes no because with the talent that we have and the offense we're going to run You're going to have open shots. So Kobe goes well, we're going to where are my open shots going to be from? He said mostly the corners That's something that I really took the challenge of because very rarely did he take Shots from the corner And he's smart, you know, he had that smile and he said from then on I was the only coach ever To ask him to shoot And you know what he was doing JJ he he had this vision of moments He knew that for us to win the gold medal, we would have to beat Argentina Whether it be in a semis or the gold medal game And that he wanted to guard jenoble I believe me. He already had that figured out And he was going to prepare To guard jenoble wasn't just a set an example for his team He had that vision crazy So every single day from the moment the coach told him that We would make 500 not miss Not take we would make 500 jump shots From the corners. That's it. Let's not just make the shot because there's a lot of individuals that can make the shot Let's enhance the focus. This is how the ball has to go in the hoop This is how it has to come back to you. So those 500 shots weren't all the same every single time That's mindset and the world champions were both undefeated and um This is the game everybody was waiting to see How about your ball's relationship? We're like brothers. You know, we're very very close and a young mom very happy for me. He's playing well got me And we're we're very very tight. So it's just a little tough to compete against them Right before the game when we came to see me and when they came to visit the village I remember that very clearly and vividly My big brother came to see me with my teammates And everyone was like, whoa, Cody's in our apartment. How cool and I believe You know, they might have been part of his strategy to kind of soften me up Now it's time for the united states to battle for what many feel is their toughest foe in these olympic games made Both teams come in 3 and 0. They're the two best teams. They're the two gold medal hopefuls Bob said he goes hit the tone to start the game He said i'm running through piles fucking chess First play of the game. I'm running to poke so We was like What? We trippin. That's your teammate. You trippin. You ain't about to do that. He said first play the game I know what they're gonna run and you knew piles and we did last screen And he said i'm running through it, motherfucker I asked for the first play of the game Holy shit Went right to the middle of my chest Tried again right through me to send a message To not just to be between his teammates and say hey, this might be my brother Play with him close But I don't care about anything else by winning I'm right there in front of me. It's like wow Yo He was like no, he ain't my teammate right now Fucking get up. I'm like, I love this energy. This is what we need We was like he did that to his teammate Oh my god And so they look for me to really have that poise in those types of situations does not get rattled not Get flushed around it. It is what it is. So just to kind of keep that composure Was part of my job. You know any cut at the two points three minutes to go I was like man, this is This is so much fun You know, I remember wanting to ball in those situations And once I made the shot it just felt felt good. I was like, oh, yeah, this is All right, I want to do it again. It's a different it's a different feeling playing for your country when you play in the NBA you're playing for a particular city a particular market when you're playing for your country those lines go away We're all together all playing for me. I say basketball carries it The great honor with that that goes above and beyond that that moment is very special And I hope you guys enjoyed the video. If you did, please be sure to leave a like Subscribe if you are new and comment down below what you thought about the stories in this video I thought they were absolutely insane here are two new videos that you may enjoy And I will catch you guys in the next one. Peace