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LeBron got embarrassed at the 04 Olympics, and not by his opponents, but rather his own coach - Larry Brown.
And he made sure to seek revenge in the most savage way possible.
The year is 2004. James completes the most hyped rookie campaign in NBA history. Doing it in a spectacular way.
A staggering line for a first year player of 21 points, 5 and a half rebounds and 6 assists per game not only wins him the rookie of the year award, but he actually finishes 9th in MVP voting.
A rookie, in the MVP race.
He almost carries the Cavaliers to the playoffs, missing it by only 1 game.
It’s clear that the hype is real, and that he would be the future of the NBA.
So when team USA was picking out the roster for the upcoming Olympic games, James was called, alongside fellow youngsters Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Amare Stoudemire.
But they were far from the first choice to represent the country.
Kevin Garnett, the recently announced MVP of the league declined the invitation to focus on his upcoming wedding that summer. And it was the exact same scenario with Vince Carter.
These 2 were on the team the previous Olympics when this happened.
Kobe Bryant was still dealing with his infamous sexual assault charges, so he was out as well.
The large majority of NBA superstars however canceled because of security issues, and fear of a possible terrorist attack.
This was the reason why team USA wouldn’t stay in the Olympic village like the rest of the athletes, but rather isolated on a luxurious ship.
As for Shaq, he was asked about playing in November of 2002 when it was announced that Larry Brown would be coaching this team. And his response was hilarious.
"Larry Brown's the coach? There's a pain on the outside of my knee in 2004, if Phil's not the coach, I probably will not play through the pain.
However, Larry Brown's a great guy. I wish him well. I love Larry Brown.
"It's kind of too far to really think about it, but my knee will be hurting in 2004.''
Larry Brown was another huge reason why players refused to play for the national team.
And Lebron quickly found out why, when his coach outright suspended him during an exhibition game in preparation for the Olympics.
The fans simply couldn’t believe that 2 of the most popular players in the league were not going to play. They started booing at this decision and chanting to see their heroes on the court, but despite all of that coach was unfazed.
Players quickly found out that Brown was strict in his ways. It’s either my way or the highway.
And it became evident at the Olympics, that Brown was going to rely heavily on the more experienced players like Shawn Marion, Richard Jefferson and Lamar Odom instead of giving Lebron, Melo, D-Wade and Stoudemire more opportunity. Even as things got ugly for team USA right at the beginning in the group stage.
This was the story throughout the entire tournament, which culminated in that semi-final game against Argentina.
LeBron played a laughable 3 minutes and watched from the bench as team USA failed to secure the gold medal for the first time since they started sending NBA players to the Olympics, in 1992.
The embarrassment for James that started with the humiliating suspension in an exhibition game, followed by not getting the playing time he deserved and capped off by the failure in the form of a bronze medal - made him almost quit team USA.
This built up anger in him towards Larry Brown, and he wanted revenge. Melo and D-Wade shared the same feelings so they formed a pact.
In possibly the biggest display of Lebron’s quest for revenge was the first time he faced Larry Brown and the Pistons during the 04-05 season, and boy he was out for blood from the very beginning.
And watch him cook his former coach Darvin Ham here, the bucket plus the foul.
At times James would go all alone against the entire Pistons defense, just to make it obvious for Larry Brown how unstoppable he is.
And after this heat check, the message was clear.
As Lebron ended the game with a monster line of 43 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists on 68% shooting, his teammate Jeff Mckinnis couldn’t help but notice the reason for James going beast mode. Mckinnis said:
Lebron didn’t say anything to us but I think he wanted to stick it to Larry Brown. I think in the back of his mind, that’s what he wanted to do.
James got his revenge, and who knows what could have been if he played more in 04.
What we do know however is that he’s still playing and imposing his will in the Olympics 20 years later.
And speaking of imposing his will, in this video I cover exactly how Lebron destroyed the Lakers chances this season by drafting his own son, and bringing in his friend to be a coach.
You gotta check out this video right here. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

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