NBA star Bryant says US can win gold in Beijing
NBA superstar Kobe Bryant said Wednesday he was confident the United States could re-establish its dominance in world basketball and take home the gold at the Beijing Olympics next year.
But the 29-year-old All-Star guard for the Los Angeles Lakers says he is not about to relax, predicting that Team USA will face a tough challenge at the 2008 Summer Games from other teams with NBA talent on their rosters.
"We're preparing for (the Olympics) like we were playing for the NBA finals," Bryant told reporters during a one-day visit to Manila as part of a promotional tour of Asia sponsored by Nike.
"What we faced in FIBA is going to pale in comparison to the Olympics," said the National Basketball Association's two-time scoring champion, referring to the recent Olympic qualifying tournament for the Americas, won by Team USA.
Bryant said the US squad could face tough competition in Beijing from home team China, which are pinning their hopes on Houston Rockets all-star center Yao Ming and Milwaukee Bucks draft pick Yi Jianlin.
Asked about the state of Asian basketball, Bryant said, "It's getting there because of Yao Ming. He opened the door."
He described Yi as "very talented," adding: "He can be pretty special."
Bryant said Team USA would be facing a "much greater" challenge at the 2008 Olympics than seen by the 1992 "Dream Team" which took home gold in Barcelona, led by legends Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.
Argentina, which finished second in the FIBA tournament to Team USA, will defend their Olympic title in Beijing.
The current Team USA may be short of veterans, but not on talent, Bryant remarked, saying he would choose "the entire USA basketball team" if he needed a winning line-up for the Lakers.
When asked if he would prefer an NBA championship or Olympic gold, Bryant said he could win both.
"I don't have to choose one or the other," the Lakers guard said. "You focus on one thing at a time."
Bryant was also due to visit Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai during his trip to Asia.
AFP
