7 Surprises From Netflix’s New Hit Documentary ‘The Redeem Team’

The new documentary The Redeem Team has become an immediate hit on Netflix, ranking in the top five movies since its release last week. The film tells the story of the 2008 men’s Olympic basketball team, which was under immense pressure to recapture gold after suffering its first-ever bronze medal performance in 2004.

The film compiles footage from the International Olympic Committee and NBA, and it provides a window into a period when we didn’t have the real-time social media analysis of every sporting event that we do now.

The doc marks the first collaboration between the IOC and a global streaming service. Its director, Jon Weinbach, was coming off the huge success of The Last Dance, the 2020 ESPN/Netflix co-production about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Netflix knew there was an appetite for longform exploration of a big sporting moment.

While the outcome of Redeem is known from the beginning—even those who didn’t witness the 2008 title game can find out who won with a quick Google search—there were some surprises in the film. Here are seven big ones.

1. Kobe Bryant shared a touching moment with his family that now carries greater significance.

Greg Groggel, executive producer, Originals at the IOC and a producer on the film, remembers going through hours of film, some of which did not air on the original NBC game broadcast. Bryant greeting his wife and young daughters after the victory was one of those gems. It’s all the more poignant with Bryant’s passing. “You need to look at what’s there around the edges because that’s where you can kind of find these special moments before games, after games, in between games,” Groggel says.

2. Coach K swore up a storm.

Of course, it’s not a shock that a coach would swear, but Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski exhibits a pretty foul mouth while motivating his players to reach their potential. The West Point graduate brings in people who’ve served in the military and others to inspire the team—and he uses some salty language to essentially tell them they don’t want to be grandpas bouncing their grandkids on their knees and look back at a missed opportunity. But he says it with more cursing. (It’s Netflix, so that’s allowed.)

3. Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony offered exceptional interviews.

Could someone get these two their own talk shows? The former NBA players give smart, insightful commentary that stands out amid the usual sports cliches we see after a big victory. Bosh is funny, while Anthony provides exceptional analysis. Both look more comfortable in front of the camera than even the always effortlessly charming LeBron James.

“It was sort of like a running joke in our production team that we could just watch the Chris Bosh interview raw. Like that would be the film on its own. He was so great,” Weinbach says. “I will say, I didn’t necessarily expect some of the humor from Chris Bosh and Carmelo. They were outstanding.”

4. Dwayne Wade’s interview was interrupted by COVID-19.

You won’t see mention of this on-screen, but former Miami Heat superstar Dwayne Wade was the last one to be interviewed on basically the last day before the world shut down in March 2020. “I mean, we literally started the interview with food and toilet paper on the shelves, and we finished the interview with no food and no toilet paper there,” Weinbach remembers.

5. Subsequent interviews were conducted with COVID protocols in order.

Weinbach notes that for future interviews, he often wasn’t even in the room—there was a camera crew filming the NBA stars, and he would be Zoomed in to ask questions. It’s not evident from the film quality or the players’ answers that they’re conversing with a screen.

6. Bryant passed away while the film was shooting.

The film includes old footage of interviews with the superstar, who is in many ways the focal point of the film. Weinbach, a lifelong Los Angeles Lakers fan, positions Bryant as the key ingredient to the victory, who brings everyone together when he’s added to the mix at the last minute. While the director says the storytelling focus didn’t change following Bryant’s death, “it’s still emotional for me. The Lakers are like another family member, whether they’re actually in your life or you’re just watching them.”

7. Perspective leads to better answers.

Most people remember the 2008 Olympics for Michael Phelps’ record-setting performance. It was the rare instance when superstars like James and Bryant became footnotes, and there’s been little time for reflection since. The NBA and its day-to-day dynamism tend to steal the headlines from the Olympics.

Giving space to process the triumph and a platform to revisit it make for compelling content. “[The players] were very excited to dive in. I don’t think in the past 10 years anyone had asked LeBron, ‘What was it like to stand up on the podium and receive a bronze medal in Athens?’” notes Groggel. “And so he didn’t have this cliche or packaged answer. And you could tell when he answered that this was a real emotion that still stayed with him.”