Three-point marksman Michael Redd is living a dream as a member of the U.S. team seeking gold
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
When the call came, Michael Redd couldn't help but think of his long journey to this point.
The player criticized for leaving Ohio State early, the player bypassed in the first 42 picks of
the 2000 NBA draft, the player who didn't start for the Milwaukee Bucks until his fourth season was
going to the Olympics to play for his country.
All of that came rushing back to Redd when he got the call three weeks ago from USA Basketball
managing director Jerry Colangelo. Redd is one of 12 players who'll comprise the U.S. men's
basketball team in Beijing next month.
"It was one of the greatest calls I've ever gotten in my life," Redd said. "That's the pinnacle
of what we do, playing for our country at the Olympics.
"I appreciate it more than probably anyone, the route I took to get to this point. To be on the
world's greatest stage, the Olympics, when nobody really thought I was going to be anything, that's
a true blessing."
Redd will be more than a token player for the U.S. team. After dominating international
competition for decades, the Americans are no longer the undisputed kings of the sport. The United
States finished third in the 2004 Athens Games, done in largely by its inability to make perimeter
shots. The Americans made only 30.7 percent of their three-point attempts.
That's where Redd comes in. He's a career 39 percent shooter from three-point range and is
considered the best pure shooter on the U.S. team.
"We knew that outside shooting was an issue," Colangelo said. "In looking at the international
game, it is a different game. There are different rules. There are a lot of (zone defenses), and
shooters come at a premium."
In fact, on a U.S. roster that includes no-last-name-necessary players such as Kobe, LeBron and
Dwyane, some have suggested that Redd is the most indispensable player.
Redd laughed at that.
"Are you kidding me?" he said.
He wasn't laughing because the notion was absurd. He was laughing because of the transformation
of his game.
"(I'm) a guy who didn't shoot jump shots in college at all, and now they're calling me a pure
shooter," Redd said. "I kind of laugh at it. It's humbling, no question about it. It's an honor to
be mentioned as that."
Redd was a standout on the 2007 national team that won the FIBA Americas Championship with a
10-0 record. He averaged 14 points while playing less than 20 minutes per game and made 45 percent
of his three-pointers.
"Obviously, we have other shooters," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said, "but Michael is an
energizer shooter. His shots mean more than the points they score. They set a mood, and to have a
guy like him is really valuable."
That shot is the product of hard work. Upon entering the NBA, it quickly became apparent to Redd
that he would need to improve his shooting if he was to stick in the league. So during offseasons,
Redd spent uncounted hours at the J. Ashburn Youth Center gym working on his shot with Keith Neal,
his former assistant coach at West High School.
"I would be at the gym four or five times a week for three or four hours just shooting, shooting
and shooting," Redd said.
All the while, he took motivation from the doubters who questioned his decision to leave Ohio
State before his game was fully formed.
"It drove me a lot," Redd said. "It ignited a fire inside of me. The fact that we had performed
so well in college, for people to doubt the ability was hard to accept. But it drove me. All the
people that doubted me, I still show them love. (I thought), 'You know what, you didn't know, but I
knew.' "
Redd was just budding as an NBA star in 2004 when he watched the U.S. team fall on its face at
the Olympics.
"It was sad," he said. "It let me know the world has really caught up with us and we have to get
down to business in '08. That's what I was thinking at the time."
He wasn't necessarily thinking he would be a part of the 2008 Olympic team, but now that he is,
he is determined to cherish every moment of it.
"It's an amazing honor to be on that team and to be with the best players in the world," Redd
said. "I could only dream when I was younger to be on a team like that. I'm very grateful and
excited about playing there."
Bringing home a gold medal, he said, would be the greatest achievement of his career.
"To win and to restore the glory that was lost, it's historic," he said. "That would be the
ultimate. I know the NBA championship is very important as well, but this supersedes that because
you're representing your country at the Olympics."
And what would he do with his medal?
"I'd probably wear it around my neck the whole time, even when I get back home," he said.
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