BEIJING (AFP) — Expect America's multi-millionaire National Basketball Association heroes to continue sacrificing their summers in quest of Olympic gold, even after returning the United States to global supremacy.
Smiles were still locked on the faces of the US NBA superstars after their 118-107 triumph over Spain in Sunday's gold medal game when USA Basketball general manager Jerry Colangelo said half of them were ready to return in 2012.
"We'll celebrate and then we will talk about going forward," Colangelo said. "Five or six of these guys have said they want to be part of us going forward. But now it's time for a rest."
"Hell yeah," answered US forward Carmelo Anthony. "I've been doing this for 40 years."
Anthony, only 24, joined LeBron James and Dwyane Wade as seldom-seen reserves on the 2004 US team that settled for Olympic bronze. Their quest to redeem US honor and restore the once-mighty dynasty drove the US march to gold.
In the wake of that disappointing third-place finish, three US losses in Athens being one more than Americans had suffered at all prior Games combined, a new program was put in place to revive the US dynasty.
USA Basketball asked players for a three-year comittment to keep playing in the NBA off-season, assembling the same talent pool for the 2006 World Championships, 2007 Americas Olympic qualifying and 2008 Olympics.
The payoff was golden. Now James says NBA stars will continue signing on for three-year stints for the chance to uphold American honor starting in London in four years.
"I think so," James said. "It has been a great experience for all 12 of us. Not all 12 of us are going to be together again 2012, but we can tell other guys this is one of the best experiences I ever had in my life.
"This is great. You're playing basketball and you're representing your country. It doesn't get any better than this.
"Winning an NBA championship would never compare to winning a gold medal for my country."
But with a rapidly improving group of global rivals, US players know they can no longer afford to deliver less than their best and expect to win gold.
"It means a lot," US forward Chris Bosh said. "This is what you sacrifice your summers for. We've sacrificed being with our families - been away from home for a long time now."
The core of the US team has had three years of bonding and learning about each other, the international style and its differences from the NBA and the value of reclaiming global supremacy for basketball's birthplace, dominating rivals through an 8-0 Olympic run.
"A two- to three-year program is definitely working," guard Jason Kidd said.
"It's huge to see the maturing of a 19-year-old from 2004 to 2008. You talk about LeBron, you talk about Melo, you talk about the guys that were on that team that lost, they've all matured and they've all gotten better.
"That's a big part when you're playing against different countries because they've been together for a long time and they play together."
US women ran unbeaten to gold as well, beating Australia 92-65 in the final for their fourth consecutive gold medal. The US women went 8-0, stretching their Olympic win streak to 33 and winning by an average of 37.6 points a game.
But the team that captured the hearts of Chinese fans was the US men, NBA stars adored from afar but cheered by sellout crowds in a rare Asian visit that produced memories to last a lifetime.
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