YouTube Gold: Robbed In 1972

In 1972, it was inconceivable that the US could lose in Olympic basketball, but the reality was that the world was catching up and the US was not really sending its best every time.

In 1968, Black athletes boycotted the games and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor, didn’t play. He wasn’t the only one. Spencer Haywood came out of nowhere and really helped the US win, but things looked pretty shaky.

And in 1972, Bill Walton didn’t play, largely due to a negative experience he’d had in 1970 with Olympic coach Henry Iba, who he found abusive.

But the US still had significant talent and took NC State’s Tommy Burleson and UNC’s Bobby Jones, along with Doug Collins, Tom McMillen, Kevin Joyce and others.

Things were different then and freshmen were probably not considered, but word was already out about State’s David Thompson, but we don’t think he was a candidate.

The entire games were overshadowed by PLO terrorists who attacked the Israeli team, ultimately killing 11 athletes. Burleson spoke once of being very close to the gunmen and being absolutely terrified. Still, despite it all, the games went on.

The US got to the finals as they always had (in fact at that point the US had never lost a single game in Olympic competition) and had a tough game against the USSR. This was a very young American team while the Soviets had played 400 or so games as a team.

The Soviets had a 10 point lead in the second half before the US fought back. Collins stole the ball with :08 left and took off, getting fouled on his shot attempt. He hit the first free throw to tie the game 49-49. He also hit the second free throw, which was when the real circus started.

The Americans were understandably outraged at how the whole business was handled and refused their silver medals, which sit in a vault to this day.

It was Iba’s last go-round and in 1976, UNC’s Dean Smith was asked to coach. He made a brilliant but controversial decision, taking four of his own starters along with some other ACC players who knew his teams well. The gold medal was American again, but the sense of inevitability would ebb and flow over the years until Mike Krzyzewski took over in 2008 and the rest of the world conceded that the US had an iron grip on gold. But the game continues to evolve with brilliant international talent and it’s possible that someone else could win in 2028.