Best Basketball Players in the 2008 Olympics
August 25, 2008 by Stephen Kersey
Filed under NBA News, NFL Player Analysis
Which basketball players were the best in the world at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games? While many players performed very good, here are the best of the best:
Kobe Bryant, USA
When Team USA got in trouble, Kobe Bryant took over and got the Gold Medal for the United States. Kobe was lights out down the stretch of the game. His four-point play was the turning point of the game.
Pau Gasol, Spain
While Spain wasn’t able to shock the world and beat the United States, Gasol did all he could. The Los Angeles Lakers forward led the entire Olympic Games in points and played extremely well in all the games except for the first game against the US.
Luis Scola, Argentina
Although Manu Ginobili led Argentina in scoring, Ginobili wasn’t able to play in the Bronze Medal game. Scola, without Ginobili, stepped up and was the best player for Argentina as they took home the bronze. The Houston Rockets had to love what the saw out of their power forward.
LeBron James, USA
Even though Kobe Bryant took the USA home at the end, LeBron James along with Dwyane Wade were the best players on the team over the course of the entire tournament. LeBron was very good on both ends of the court and became the team’s emotional leader.
Hamed Ehadadi, Iran
Although other players such as Dirk Nowitzki of Germany and Ricky Rubio of Spain were equally as impressive, no one was a better story than this little known center out of Iran. Hamed Ehadadi entered the Olympics as a player not many scouts were aware of — even international scouts. Now Ehadadi appears set to join the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.
Photo: Newscom
Dwyane wade had to be the MVP of the olympics. Most ppgs 17. second in steals and had the most points in the gold metal game. (27). Kobe did a good job to. but was not shooting that good. and lebron had like 13 points. So overall Wade was the one of the leader. Shooting over 70 percent in the series.
Man, this is starting to tick me off… How come I keep seeing these polls for MVP of the Olympic Basketball team, and people are so biased of their favorite players to recognize- Maybe I shouldn’t use the word recognize… -Admit… People don’t want to admit that Wade was the MVP. One reason is because he out played both Kobe and LeBron with out needing as many shot attemtps or minutes…
LeBron Fans don’t really have much of an argument since he didn’t show up on the biggest stage. Without Wade the game wouldn’t have been close going into the second half… USA played there best ball whenever Wade was on the floor. Now, Kobe did step up towards the end of that game. So did Wade. LeBron James Stayed in foul trouble… Wade almost has to do super nature things in order to get what he deserves.. I hope that he is appreciated by the end of the season when he wins his first NBA MVP for the regular season. Like he should have won 3 years ago. top 5 in pts, stls, assists, and he led all guards in blocks. He avg more blocks and better shooting percentage than James, and Bryant.
Wade is kind of a big deal, and until we open our eyes and stop rating James for what he is capable of doing instead of what he has accomplished, which isn’t in comparison to what Wade has, we are going to be shocked by the end of his career. Wade has put on the Greatest NBA Finals Performance Ever… His performance was ranked higher than Magic’s, Shaq’s, Kobe’s and even Michael Jordan’s.
Wade had no weaknesses in the Olympics. And that’s why he is Handsdown the 2008 MVP of the Olympics.
Ben Davis is a genius. Wade was the best, no question. If you are basing your mvp off of the talking heads on espn, then I guess you would say kobe and lebron. if you base it off of watching all the games, then there really is NO ARGUMENT. Wade was the best.
YOu know i have been wandering whether ppl actually watched the games. i seem to be hearing kobe and lebron james name all the time and no mention of wade. let s face facts. wade was the best player and more so the most consistent. i mean kobe had some bad games but still managed to give good interviews. i think the reason wade is not being mentioned is bcos he doesnt really do a lot of self promoting. dont get me wrong i love all the players and what they achieved. i believe wade was hands down the best player and really deserves to be credited as such.
I SAW ALL US GAMES AND WADE WAS THE BEST PLAYER WITHOUT A DOUBT. MINE IS AN OBJECTIVE OPINION AND IF YOU’D SEEN ALL THE GAMES HE WAS THE BEST. IT WAS SURREAL THAT HE COULD BE SO CONSISTENT AND BETTER EVEN THOUGH HE DIDN’T EVEN START. GAME AFTER GAME IT WAS ASTONISHING.