Allen Iverson is one of the NBA's most renowned players. He is celebrated for the impact of his fearless play despite being only six feet tall and his influence on basketball culture. But even with all his accomplishments, one regret always lingers in his mind—not winning the gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics .
"The Answer" was part of the disjointed squad USA Basketball assembled for the 2004 Athens Olympics. Aside from not having too many veterans, the team struggled to find its identity under head coach Larry Brown, who was seemingly intent on imposing his will upon the players rather than finding common ground with them. In the middle was A.I., Brown's star guard on the Philadelphia 76ers, who dreamt of capturing a gold medal in the quadrennial global sports meet.
Losing hurt
In 2004, Iverson was one of the NBA's best. He was named the league's MVP in 2001 and was a perennial All-Star and All-NBA selection. Considering those accomplishments, The Anwer's inclusion in Team USA was a no-brainer. However, USA Basketball's selection process was flawed and hastily done, and signs of the team's downfall were there early on, as they lost to Italy in a friendly before the Olympics, 95–78.
From there, things went downhill as Team USA dropped its tournament opening game to an unheralded Puerto Rico squad, 92-73. After bouncing back with a few wins, the Americans lost to Lithuania, 94-90. Team USA's dreams of winning gold came to a screeching halt after they lost to eventual gold-medal winners, Argentina, in the semifinals, 89-81.
"Losing hurt. I mean, 'cause I was a part of it. It always haunts me because my dream was to win a gold medal," Iverson said in an oral history of that 2004 debacle.
Nevertheless, regardless of the outcome, the 11-time All-Star remained grateful for the opportunity.
"The way I look at life is the things that I've accomplished; people, where I'm from, don't even get to the doorstep of doing anything like that," AI shared. "So I thank God that I had the opportunity to do it, but yeah, it still bothered me."
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An unideal mix of players
According to the players who were on the roster of that unsuccessful team, a lot of blame was on Brown's handling of the team. A rigid taskmaster who always imposed on his players to "play the right way," Brown's coaching style didn't mesh well with the players on the team.
"I really had a bad experience with Larry Brown in the Olympics. It was a team full of All-Stars, and he was trying to coach the team like it was his team. Telling guys how to play the 'right way,' what they should and shouldn't do on the court, instead of just trying to win that gold medal," Starbury shared .
As a matter of fact, Brown barely utilized that team's best young players: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade.
"LeBron James might've played five minutes a game, Carmelo might've played five minutes a game. It's just a whole bunch of things. I mean, it just wasn't meant to be. It's simple as that. The talent was there -- it just didn't happen," Iverson, who led the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game, asserted.
Team USA has since recovered from that thrashing and has won four straight gold medals. With a loaded roster led by LeBron, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and Anthony Davis, they'll aim for a fifth gold in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.
Related: "I was actually crying in my locker room, I never had anybody bust my a*s before" - A.I. remembers his welcome to the NBA moment
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