2) 1972 – USSR’s controversial Gold medal win
The 1972 Gold medal match marked the first time ever that USA lost a basketball match at the Olympics. Coming into the final with an enviable and astonishing 63-0 record, little did they know that the final moments of the game would see them eventually boycott the medal ceremony.
Both the Soviet Union and USA were undefeated going into the gold medal match and it was a closely contested tie with the score reading 49-48 to USSR when USA’s Doug Collins was fouled and went to the line for two free throws.
Collins converted both to give USA a 50-49 lead and that was when the horn at the match referee’s table went off which in turn set in motion a chain of events that saw the referees restart play three times. Play was restarted the first time for a time-out that was eventually not taken while the second time it was restarted because the clock was not reset to the correct time.
On both those plays, the Soviets failed to make their inbound pass count and had the results stood, USA had won the game on both occasions. However, on the third and final inbound pass, Ivan Edeshko hurled the ball to the other end where Sergey Belov shrugged off the challenges of Jim Forbes and Kevin Joyce to lay the ball in before the final buzzer and give them a 51-50 win.
Further appeals from USA officials were rejected and the medal ceremony saw only two teams (Soviet Union and bronze medal winners Cuba) turn up at the podium. Even to this day, USA have refused to accept the silver medals.
Guess the Lakers players!
