I remember not too long back there was a picture of the entire team lined up, and all of the shoes being visible with the exception of Howard, the only non-Nike athlete.
Anyhow, here is the little piece talking about Nike's "Road to Redemption" documentary of Team USA:
That comes along with what is, to me, an outdated notion for a modern media era. That would be the breathless "elite players as deities" approach to the game. (Some Nike copy on the "Road to Redemption" website: "Kobe. LeBron. J-Kidd. Individually, they're untouchable. Together, they're invincible.")
Either we know those players are beatable or we have not properly learned from the recent history of international basketball. The notion that the these players are superhuman might be useful for selling shoes, but I'm not at all sure it describes where we are at this point.
(A quick note about Nike's role in this documentary. I salute the sponsorship of a long-form, painstakingly made look at our national team. Those dollars could have gone to more billboards in Beijing. But it is also undeniable that there is a lot of attention paid to topics that serve Nike. For instance, while there is barely even mention of Team USA's opponents, there is a lengthy visit to meet the marvelously patriotic people who lovingly make each jersey. I half expected someone to turn to the camera and say "and you can have one of these jerseys for just $89.95." And before I started watching, I wondered if Nike would have the nerve to keep the one non-Nike athlete, Dwight Howard, from the spotlight. It's galling: Howard is a ghost. Almost never on the screen at all. We are told again and again that nothing matters more than representing your nation, being a selfless teammate, and being patriotic. Then we don't see Dwight Howard, and we do see archival footage of Michael Jordan covering the Reebok logo on his Team USA warmups with an American flag. So, nothing matters more than all that stuff, except perhaps your choice in sports apparel brands.)
Link - ESPN
