15 greatest upsets in Summer Olympic history
By Brad Weiss
5. 2004: U.S. Men’s Basketball falters
The U.S. Men’s Basketball team has been synonymous with winning. In 1992, the USA stopped sending amateurs to the Olympics, and instead, sent a “Dream Team” of NBA stars to compete at the Barcelona Games. That team featured legends like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson, and forever changed International basketball.
The 2004 version of the USA team’s roster was not littered with future Hall of Famers like the 1992 group, but it had it’s fair share of great talent. The team had a handful of future Hall of Famers, but also had players like Carlos Boozer, Lamar Odom, Shawn Marion, and Richard Jefferson on it. Still, they should have rolled through this Olympic Games, but that was not the case.
In one of the biggest upsets in Olympic basketball history, the USA team lost their first game of the tournament to Puerto Rico, whose best player was Carlos Arroyo. Not only were they beaten, they were beaten soundly, losing 92-73. The loss marked a long Olympics for Team USA.
The U.S. Men’s Basketball team had posted a 109-2 record in Olympic play heading into the game, but by the end of the Olympics, they would wind up adding three losses to that record. They finished the Olympics winning the Bronze Medal Game against Lithuania, and had to sit and watch a Manu Ginobili-led Argentina team, who beat them in the semifinals, take the gold.
Next: 4. 1964: Billy Mills shocks the world