Kobe Bryant is still fueled by the memory. He was on a bus in China six months ago after the U.S. Olympic basketball team defeated Spain to win the gold medal at the Beijing Games. Even now, Bryant can close his eyes and see LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and Jason Kidd, whooping and hollering, nary a care in the world.
“You see these guys, these quote-unquote superstars, hanging loose like a bunch of high school kids, just going crazy. It was great,” Bryant said. “There was so much energy in the locker room after the gold medal, the champagne and the guys just having a good time.
“That energy has carried over to now.”
It will be on display today during an NBA Christmas showcase as five U.S. gold medalists headline a quintuple-header. Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers host Boston in a Finals rematch on KMGH-7. Paul and Howard reunite when Orlando hosts New Orleans (ESPN). James and Cleveland host Washington in the first of a TNT doubleheader, while Kidd takes Dallas into Portland in the second game. The other Christmas game has an Olympic feel, too: San Antonio, with Beijing veterans Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto, visits Phoenix (KMGH-7).
Players say there definitely is a correlation between Beijing success and stardom this NBA season.
Bryant’s Lakers are atop the West, James leads MVP talk, Paul now makes double-doubles seem easy, Howard has cemented himself as the game’s dominant big man, Miami’s Dwyane Wade is having his best regular season — and each took a boost from the Olympic title.
“To win the gold just uplifted all of us into this season,” James said. “A lot of people were wondering if we’d hit a wall because we played in the Olympics. But look at everybody from the Olympic team. Everybody is playing the best they’ve ever played.”
Maybe not everybody, but it’s close.
Denver’s Carmelo Anthony is seeing his stats dip a bit over past years, even with former scoring partner Allen Iverson now having been shipped to Detroit.
But the way Anthony sees it, he’s playing far more effectively than ever — a concept he learned in Beijing — and has the Nuggets tied with the Trail Blazers atop the Northwest Division.
“I brought the same approach to this team,” Anthony said. “I brought the idea of depending on my teammates more and helping them build confidence in themselves.”
Wade (29.0 points per game) leads the NBA in scoring and has the Heat back in the playoff chase after last season’s 15-win disaster. James is shooting better than ever, Howard leads the league in double-doubles with 20, and that duo is keeping the Celtics from turning the East into a complete runaway. Toronto’s Chris Bosh is on pace for a career high in scoring average, and Bryant, again, is a serious MVP candidate.
“It gives you a boost individually and in what you bring to your team,” Wade said. “You’re not only around winning, you’re around greatness, competitiveness. You just knew how good it felt and how it was done, so you bring that back to your organization. It helps a lot.”
In some cases, though, that summer of competitiveness came with a price.
Howard has dealt with a tender knee, a condition that Magic coach Stan Van Gundy claims was exacerbated a bit by the extra strain of the demanding Olympic schedule. San Antonio was without Ginobili for the early part of the season as he continued to recover from a nasty ankle sprain he aggravated in Beijing and ultimately needed surgery to repair.
Another trio of gold medalists, Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer of the Jazz and Michael Redd of the Bucks, all have missed playing time this season because of injuries.
