LeBron James Sends Clear Message About Pride in Representing the USA

James and Anthony were part of Team USA for the 2004 Olympics, where they only managed to win the bronze medal. They lost to Puerto Rico and Lithuania in the group stages and were then knocked out by Argentina in the semifinals. The U.S. at least managed to beat Lithuania in the bronze medal game to ensure they didn't walk away with nothing.

A bronze medal still wasn't good enough, though, but more disappointment was coming. The U.S finished third at the 2006 FIBA World Cup, and it was a disastrous run by their standards.

While that was a difficult period, James stated on the "Mind the Game" podcast that it contributed to the players getting their sense of pride back in representing the United States.

"Everything is city-based here," James said on "Mind the Game." "And it took a while for us, as far as the Olympics, to get that sense of pride back. We got our [expletive] kicked in 2004, and then we lost in the World Championship in 2006. It took us time to be like, 'Oh, this is real.'"

"The rest of these countries not only are getting better with the game of basketball, but it's a sense of pride, too," James continued. "And when you have that sense of pride, you have a sense of work ethic that goes a lot longer. You have a sense of accountability that's a little bit longer. You have a sense of wanting to be there because you know what you're representing."  

James believes the players used to feel a sense of pride about the cities they were from earlier. That has changed now to the point where they take pride in representing the nation, as had always been the case when it came to their opponents.