THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men’s basketball standout, Chris Bosh reunited with his former Redeem Team teammates last Saturday as the 2008 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, Bosh, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Dwyane Wade and Deron Williams joined head coach Mike Krzyzewski, assistant coaches Jim Boeheim and Mike D’Antoni at the Class of 2025 induction ceremony in Springfield, Mass. on Sept. 6. Managing director Jerry Colangelo also joined in the celebration. During the ceremony, the team honored the late Kobe Bryant.
Following U.S. Olympic teams that took bronze at the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 World Cup, the Redeem Team put the U.S. back on top of global basketball. The 2008 squad won the gold medal, going 8-0 in Beijing, China, winning by an average of 27.9 points per game. The Redeem Team qualified for the Olympics by winning the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship.
Bosh, a Georgia Tech Hall of Famer, was elected as an individual to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2021. He became the first Yellow Jacket ever elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. In one season on The Flats, Bosh was named the ACC Rookie of the Year and a Freshman All-American by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He also earned second-team all-ACC honors after leading Tech in scoring and rebounding. Though he entered the NBA Draft following his freshman year, he helped set the stage for the Jackets’ run to the NCAA championship game in 2004. Bosh was selected as the fourth overall pick in 2003 by Toronto in the NBA Draft and went on to earn two NBA titles with the Miami Heat.