The US men’s basketball team has so long been associated with winning that it’s easy to forget that heading into the 2008 Beijing games, their victory was no guaranteed layup. Coming off of a resounding defeat in Athens four years earlier with a bronze-medal finish, the all-star team had something to prove for the first time. Now a new documentary tells the story of this so-called Redeem Team — and how some of the best basketball players in the world came to be seen as underdogs.

The Redeem Team marks the first time that the International Olympic Committee has opened up its archives of more than 70 years of Olympic history. “This film will bring viewers directly inside that team,” said Mark Parkman of Olympic Channel Services. And it’ll do that with some help: the documentary features previously unseen footage and interviews with Redeem Team members LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul, as well as their coach Mike Krzyzewski and archival footage of the late Kobe Bryant.

The Redeem Team shows actual footage throughout Team USA’s journey — from early-morning training (and late-night partying) in Las Vegas to game time in Beijing. The documentary’s opening scene features James and Bryant sitting down together many years ago. Featuring James and Wade as executive producers, there’s a certain intimacy in each interview and in the retelling of this story. “I really felt that the guys wanted to talk about this,” director Jon Weinbach told Tudum. “They've all won stuff. They've all done incredible things. But the enthusiasm and the candor and the emotion they brought showed that they wanted to honor the memory of the team and [its] significance.”

Why were they called the “Redeem Team”?

After a demoralizing bronze medal finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Team USA’s perceived dominance in the sport was in question. It was a shock, but not completely unprecedented. In 1988 — a time when Olympics rules stated that only amateurs could compete — the US suffered its worst result in the history of the games, a bronze medal after a semifinals loss to the USSR. Because of the political climate (and because of pride, as Americans felt basketball was their sport), avenging the loss became a top priority. That effort, aided by a rules change allowing pro ballers to participate in the games, yielded the 1992 roster known as the Dream Team, comprising players like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley. At the time, they were heralded to be the greatest American basketball team in history.

After Team USA’s 2004 debacle, the recruits charged with reclaiming American basketball superiority felt a similar pressure and sense of destiny. Thus, the Redeem Team — a riff on the nickname of the squad that restored glory and excitement some years ago — was born, but not without friction and major personnel overhauls. For The Redeem Team, executive producers Mike Tollin and Weinbach, who co-produced the Jordan/Chicago Bulls docuseries The Last Dance, pieced together the US team’s road to redemption. That road required shrewd maneuvering from new USA basketball director Jerry Colangelo, innovative coaching from Mike Krzyzewski and camaraderie between perceived rivals Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

Who's in The Redeem Team doc?

The documentary features interviews from the best in basketball. LeBron James, the late Kobe Bryant, former Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul are all featured in extensive interviews. Visit The Redeem Team cast guide to find out who’s who.

What does The Redeem Team cover? 

Americans took it personally when the US men’s national basketball team lost in the semifinals of the 2004 Olympics. What followed was a massive overhaul in personnel, methodology and heart, all preparation leading to a chance at redemption in the 2008 Beijing games.

Winning in 2008 was crucial. It was taken for granted that Americans had always dominated the sport. When Argentina won gold in 2004, it was only the fourth time that the US hadn’t placed first since basketball was introduced to the Olympics in 1936. One of those occasions was in 1988, inspiring the aforementioned Dream Team; another was in 1980, when the US boycotted the games in Moscow altogether; and possibly the most controversial ending to a basketball game ever played on a global scale was in 1972 when the US lost to the Soviet Union. The final three seconds of that game were infamously replayed two times until, finally, the Soviet Union won. It was, and still is, an enormous scandal.

That history plays into why restoring pride and identity to American basketball mattered so intensely after 2004. The sport was invented in 1891, in a YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. America featured the best, most powerful, most electric, most monetarily successful basketball league in the world. Its heroes were international icons — Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James.

The 2004 loss was the first time America faltered for no reason. They didn’t lose because of a fixing scandal, or because only amateurs were allowed to play or because of a boycott that prevented them from participating in the first place. They lost because they were lackadaisical and complacent. It was a threat to what American basketball understood itself to be.

That’s the tension that created the Redeem Team, and that’s where the challenge lay for director Colangelo and coach Krzyzewski and a new squad of players shouldering a newfound mission to reclaim greatness.

When is it available to watch?

The Redeem Team debuts Oct. 7.