“The worst 38 days of my life!” Now, these aren’t LeBron’s words, but a teammate of his in the 2004 Athens Olympics – Stephon Marbury. Of course, now he’s on the same boat as Skip Bayless, but that’s a subject for another day. 2004 was a historical year for LeBron James, Team USA, and more importantly, for Puerto Rico – a Caribbean island smaller than Connecticut. The dominant Team USA fell to Puerto Rico in the first game of the Olympics. Bear in mind, their exhibition matches themselves were worrying.

And to watch them floundering against a Puerto Rican team had earned them the infamous nickname, the “Nightmare Team”. It certainly was a nightmare for many involved. Led by the Hall of Fame coach, Larry Brown, it wasn’t the most pleasant of experience for our “generational talent,” LeBron James. To remind you of what a young Bron might have felt then, just think of Jayson Tatum in the 2024 Paris Olympics. But that wasn’t the highlight of the whole Athens trip, was it?

LeBron James found himself out of favor with Coach Brown

One of the most popular instances of the 2004 Olympics was when the trio of LeBron James, Allen Iverson, and Amare Stoudemire were suspended for the exhibition game against Puerto Rico for coming in late for the meeting. Recounting the situation was the Olympics great, Carmelo Anthony, in one of the episodes of his pod, 7PM in Brooklyn. “Larry Brown like, you can’t leave the boat. Leaving the boat was like you get suspended again,” Melo said.

It was an 11 o’clock meeting, which started a few minutes early. According to Marbury, who booked a private plane to reach the training camp in time, LeBron James and AI came in about 30 seconds late. And Brown’s reaction? “Larry Brown off the jump, he told those guys that they were suspended from playing in the game.” 

Iverson and James were both listed as guards and that suspension left Team USA with just 9 players, of which Center, Emeka Okafor, had sustained an injured ankle. However, they did manage to overpower Puerto Rico 96-71. But it was only the start of a disappointing Olympic experience for the ‘Kid from Akron’.

Larry Brown preferred to start Richard Jefferson over the 2004 ROTY

While it was a consensus that the 2004 Team USA wasn’t happy with the disciplinary and strict ways of Coach Brown, a young James must have thought things would get better. But it really didn’t. Not once did Brown play the McDonald’s All-American MVP as a starter. He rather opted to go with the then-New Jersey Nets (Brooklyn Nets) forward, Richard Jefferson. To choose someone who wasn’t anywhere in the league to become a perennial All-Star as opposed to the “generational talent” and widely regarded as the next Michael Jordan, naturally came under much scrutiny.

Especially given the underwhelming performances Team USA put forth. While not close to the 1992 Dream Team, they were by no means terrible. Names like Tim Duncan, Lamar Odom, etc. along with the future all-time scoring leader, LeBron, future NBA greats, D. Wade, and Melo should’ve been enough to get that Gold. Given that a team of All-Stars had to learn to work like a cohesive unit in itself was a challenge. Add to it the fact that Coach Brown was trying to enforce his style of play made the challenge even more difficult.

A quick look at the statistics of LeBron James vs Richard Jefferson: Was The Chosen One’s minutes being limited, a fair call?

The longest James was on the floor was against Angola, where he played for 27 minutes, finishing with 11 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds, while going 4-of-4 from the two-point line and making the one three he attempted. RJ, in the same game, had just played 14 minutes, as he scored 7 points and 2 rebounds, going 2-of-3 from the two-point line. How about the humiliating defeat at the hands of Puerto Rico?

James had received just 13 minutes of playing time, during which he dropped 5 points, an assist, and a rebound each, going a perfect 2-of-2 from the charity stripe, and 1-of-3 from downtown. How did the future 2016 NBA champion fare? 26 minutes on the floor and Jefferson’s stat line goes like this- 8 points, 1 assist, and 4 rebounds. He went 2-of-5 from the free-throw line, could not make one of his 6 attempted flyers from deep range, but managed to find some solace from the two-point line (3-of-10).

Despite playing for a total of 148 minutes, Richard Jefferson averaged 6.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1 assist. In contrast, the 3x Ohio Mr. Basketball took the floor for 92 minutes and averaged 5.4 points, 1 rebound, and 1.6 assists. So yes, the wide criticism against Coach Brown for not playing LeBron James can be understandable.

Unlike Steve Kerr, who knew what Stephen Curry was capable of, the 2001 COTY did not have prior knowledge of the ex-Arizona product. In fact, he was coaching the Detroit Pistons at the time and the 76ers before that. So, there was no logical reason for him to prefer Jefferson over LeBron, who had lived up to and exceeded the hopes of everyone in his rookie year alone.

King James explained in an interview what he believed led to the disappointing 2004 Olympics: “[It was] ingredients of everything – coaching and maturity.” 

Do you agree with Bron? Let us know in the comments.

 Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger.