Basketball team wins and loses the same game

Can a basketball team win and lose the same game?

The question may appear befuddling, but that was exactly what happened to the United States basketball team which participated in the 1972 Munich Games. The team defeated the Soviet Union in the battle for the gold, but the outcome was set aside and the Soviets were given ball possession. The opposing team made good a helluva shot to win the controversy-marred game. The atmosphere in the Munich Olympics was tense. On the morning of September 5, 1972, 11 members of the Israeli team were gunned down by terrorists. It was uncertain if the game would continue, but they did, in the hope that the purity of athletic competition would return a sense of normalcy to the Olympic venues.

In the finals of the basketball competition, the United States was pitted against the Soviet Union. Organizers felt a matchup between the two superpowers was the perfect healing event. Here was a Cold War which will be waged in a hardcourt without the need to spill blood. The game turned out to be a classic, airight, but mostly because of the disturbing conclusion and blatant injustice that helped the Soviets upset the US, 51-50. In this game, fair play was thrown in the garbage can.

"Im not angry about it now, but I was for a long time," said Jim Brewer, a forward on the losing U.S. team. “It’s something I try not to think about, but I remember whenever the Olympics come along.” Entering the championship game with the Soviets, the United States’ record in Olympic hoops was an incredible 62-0! Led by a collection of future NBA pros that included Brewer, Doug Collins, Bobby Jones, Tom Burleson and Tom McMillen, the Stars and Stripes squad was the top pick to win its eight straight Olympic gold medal. But the Soviets had a game plan and stuck to it religiously. Playing a tenacious defense, the Soviets jumped out to a 26-21 lead at halftime, and led by eight points with 6:07 remaining in the game. Sensing trouble, the Americans made a desperate run, but with only six seconds left, the Soviets had the ball, a 49-48 advantage, and the gold medals practically secured around their necks. Collins intercepted a cross-court pass, drove toward the basket, and knocked out violently by a swarm of defenders. Though dazed, Collins sank both free throws to give the U.S. the lead for the first time, 50-49.

“I was actually knocked out for a few seconds,” recounted Collins. “I still didn’t have my composure when I was on the line. That’s probably why I made the shots.” The confusion that followed was too difficult to comprehend. As the second foul shot left Collins hand, the Soviet team called a timeout — even though international rules at the time dictated that a timeout cannot be called until the ball was inbounded after scoring a basket. When no timeout was granted, the Soviet bench ran onto the court to protest, thus forcing an automatic stoppage of the clock with one second left. When the Soviets were instructed to inbound the ball, their long pass downcourt was batted away, and the American players embraced each other on ecstacy. They believed the game had ended and that they had won the gold medal. But lo and behold, R. William Jones, the secretary-general of the International Amateur Basketball Federation, came out of the stands and though bereft with jurisdiction, overruled the officials and granted the Soviet Union’s request for a time-out.

Jones’ unwarranted interference put three seconds back on the clock. As the Soviets prepared to inbound the ball, Brazilian referee Renato Righetto ordered McMillan to give passer Ivan Yedeshko room, even though no such international rule existed. McMillen backed off, and Yedeshko hurled a long pass which landed on the hands of Aleksander Belov. Belov outmaneuvered two defenders and scored at the buzzer to give the Soviets an unbelievable 51-50 victory.

The U.S. team protested the outcome to FIBA’s Jury of Appeals. But the team’s protest was rejected via a 3-2 vote. Unperturbed, the American players held a vote of their own. They decided unanimously not to accept their silver medals. “A silver medal is quite honorable if it’s the one you’re supposed to get,’ said Brewer. “It would be shameful to receive it that way.” The US team was chided for falling into complacency. While the resuit of the game was dubious, there was no denying that the US had to play catch-up right from the opening basket. “You have to look at how the team was coached,” said Bobby Jones. “We were very quick, but (head coach) Hank Iba stressed defense and a slowdown game. The Russians had played together three or four years, and we were together three or four months, so anything we could have done off a fastbreak would have been to our advantage. But if I could change one thing, I would urge our players not to go out and play those last three seconds.”

The Soviet Union’s victory in the 1972 Munich Olympics was one of the biggest upsets in basketball. Almost 23 years since the unexpected loss of the United States, the silver medals the American players were supposed to receive has remained unclaimed in a vault in Switzerland. “Despite what happened,” says Jones, “we never felt sorry for ourselves. After the Israeli massacre, I even said, ‘Why are we laying?”