By Eno Sarris
What is a competition, especially the Olympics in which there is a lot of pride in country from a lot of competitors, without a little controversy? Considering that many basketball players and basketball coaches normally argue various calls for fouls or possessions during a game, there's bound to be some differences of opinion. In relative degrees, here are three controversial situations in Olympics basketball history.
- 1972 Final: United States vs. the Soviet Union
- 1980 Round-Robin: Soviet Union vs Yugoslavia
- 2004 Semi-Final: United States vs. Argentina
Olympic Basketball (Men's) has obviously been dominated by the United States team, which has won every gold medal in the sport save for four out of fifteen Olympics. And here I am, an American, mentioning all four of those years as controversies in Olympic Basketball. Am I biased? You decide.
1972 Final: United States vs. the Soviet Union
Soviet Union wins 51-50
In a controversy that ranks among the most hotly contested in the history of all Olympic sports, a young US team was handed its first loss ever by the veteran Soviets. The particulars of this case are incredible.
Doug Collins hit the second of two free-throws despite the game-ending horn sounding during his second attempt. His two points put the team up for the first time all game, 50-49, with three seconds left in the game. Following his free throws, the Soviet team inbounded the ball and failed to score.
However, one official had blown the play dead because of the earlier horn that sounded during Collins' second free-throw shot. That, combined with the Soviets' claim that they had called a timeout, led to the decision to put three seconds back on the clock and run the final play of the game again.
The Soviets inbounded the ball with a full-length pass and missed the final shot. Again.
The only problem? The official clock had been in the process of being reset and was not running during the second attempt to finish the game. The Secretary General of FIBA at the time, R. William Jones, ordered the clock reset to 0:03. Again.
This time, Soviet Aleksander Belov caught the long pass at the foul line and Americans Kevin Joyce and Jim Forbes went flying. He turned, drove to the basket, and won the game. Third time’s the charm.
The Americans filed a protest immediately after the game, and the three Communist countries on the five-country Jury decided against their appeal. The US players voted unanimously to refuse the medals, and some even put clauses in their wills concerning the medals.
