After the overwhelming success of The Last Dance, which was a Netflix Original outside of the US, Netflix has begun investing lots of money into the production of brand new sports docuseries and documentaries, in particular, basketball. An exciting sports documentary arriving on Netflix in October 2022 is “The Redeem Team,” the fascinating story of the USA Men’s Basketball Team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The Redeem Team is a Netflix Original sports documentary directed by Jon Weinbach, who previously produced the incredible basketball docuseries The Last Dance. Produced by NBA legends LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, The Redeem Team is the first official collaboration between Netflix and the International Olympic Committee.
With access to “unprecedented Olympic footage and behind-the-scenes material” the documentary explores the journey of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games USA Men’s Basketball Team.
When is The Redeem Team coming to Netflix?
With the release of the trailer, we can confirm that The Redeem Team will be available to stream on Netflix on Friday, October 7th, 2022.
Who were The Redeem Team?
Only eight years on from arguably one of the greatest Basketball teams ever assembled, the 1996 United States men’s Olympic basketball team aka the “Dream Team III,” the United States men’s basketball team experienced one of its most embarrassing finishes in the Olympics ever when they took the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
The roster of the 1996 USA Men’s Olympic Basketball Team “Dream Team III”
After winning three Olympic gold medals in a row, the USA men’s basketball team was expected to take the gold medal once again. However, after poor displays and three losses against Puerto Rico, Lithuania, and eventual gold medal winners Argentina, the US team could only achieve the bronze medal.
LeBron James (center) at the Basketball medal ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games
Winning an Olympic bronze medal is still an incredible achievement, but for the USA it was incredibly underwhelming considering each time a USA team is assembled for the Olympic games it can be considered an “All-Star” team.
Four years later at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the United States men’s basketball team was back with a vengeance. Nicknamed the ‘Redeem Team’ it was the roster’s mission to reclaim the gold medal and reinstate the USA’s dominance of the sport in front of the entire world.
The roster of the 2008 USA Men’s Olympic Basketball Team ‘The Redeem Team”
Once again, the USA men’s team had a roster of some of the world’s best basketball players, which included;
- F – 4 – Charles Boozer – Utah Jazz
- G – 5 – Jason Kidd – Dallas Mavericks
- F – 6 – LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers
- G – 7 – Deron Williams – Utah Jazz
- G – 8 – Michael Redd – Milwaukee Bucks
- G – 9 – Dwayne Wade – Miami Heat
- G – 10 – Kobe Bryant – LA Lakers
- C – 11 -Dwight Howard – Orlando Magic
- F/C – 12 – Chris Bosh – Toronto Raptors
- G – 13 – Chris Paul – New Orleans Hornets
- F – 14 – Tayshaun Prince – Detroit Pistons
- F – 15 – Carmelo Anthony – Denver Nuggets
In a dominating display, the USA men’s team went on to win the gold medal after winning all five games, including defeating the previous gold medal winners Argentina and destroying hosts China.
“The Redeem Team” enjoying the Basketball medal ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
What is the documentary runtime?
We can confirm that the runtime is 97 minutes.
Are you looking forward to the release of The Redeem Team on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!
