The date, August 14, 2004, will forever live in infamy or prominence, depending on who you ask. For Puerto Rican basketball star and former NBA guard Carlos Arroyo , it was a night that changed his life and the lives of his teammates forever.
On that fateful summer evening in Athens, Greece, the Puerto Rican national team faced off against the mighty Team USA in the 2004 Athens Olympics men's basketball tournament group stage. While many forecasted an easy win for the Americans, Arroyo and his team had other ideas. They orchestrated one of the biggest upsets in Olympic basketball history, stunning Team USA 92-73.
Arroyo, a 6'2" guard who played nine seasons in the NBA, stole the show from an American team that included Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, and LeBron James. He scored 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting and tallied four rebounds, seven assists, and four steals in the lopsided win. Two decades have passed since that unforgettable moment in Puerto Rico's sporting history. However, the memories from that game still loom large for him and his teammates.
Everybody still remembers every detail of that game
Like the "Miracle on Ice" or the "Hand of God" goal in football, it is a moment that will be forever etched in the minds of sports fans worldwide. According to Arroyo, he and his countrymen still remember where they were when they authored that unforgettable victory over the powerhouse Americans.
"They all remember where they were that night watching the game. It was so impactful that people remember the specifics of that day," Arroyo, now the general manager of the Puerto Rican national basketball team, shared in an interview with CBS Sports.
Puerto Rico flustered Team USA early on with a zone defense and took a 21-20 lead after the first period. With their confidence high and momentum on their side, Puerto Rico outscored the Americans, 28-7, in the second to take a commanding 22-point halftime lead, 49-27. At that point, Arroyo had to pinch himself to ensure he wasn't dreaming.
"We knew that we needed to play an almost perfect game, limit our mistakes, and make good decisions because when you play a team like USA, they'll make you pay for every mistake you make," Arroyo remarked.
"But we had no idea that we were going to execute to the perfection that we did. To have a lead of 22 points at halftime, we were in the locker room looking at each other like, we're up 22 against USA. For us, it was like, can the game end right now?" the flashy guard continued.
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A wake-up call
Puerto Rico finished sixth in the Athens Olympics, its highest finish at this stage since finishing fourth in 1964. Team USA, meanwhile, went home with the bronze medal in 2004. It was a massive wake-up call for USA Basketball, which led to the creation of the Redeem Team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
That team had some of the most iconic players in NBA history, led by the late Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony. Team USA and Puerto Rico will face one another again in the group stage of the Paris Olympics on August 3.
Related: "You can play just 10 minutes a game" - How Magic Johnson convinced Larry Bird and Michael Jordan to play in the 1992 Olympics
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