Back on Feb. 5, 2008, Kobe tore a ligament in his right pinkie against a game with the New Jersey Nets. Since then, Kobe was able to lead his team to the NBA finals, win his first MVP award, and help lead Team USA to a gold medal. His initial plan was to get surgery done on it after the Olympics, but now he has decided to hold off on that until who knows when. Kobe has said that he has spoken with several hand specialists and feels the best move for his team is to forgo surgery. Had he stuck to the original plan and received surgery, it was estimated that Kobe would miss 4-6 weeks of regular season play - a number too high in his mind.

Failing to win gold in Athens during the 2004 Olympics, team USA set out this years Beijing Olympics with only one thing on their mind - reclaiming their throne. Thanks to an almost perfect execution of the players and coaching staff, team USA was able to blow by any and all competition, winning all 8 of their games. Dwayne Wade and Kobe Bryant led the team in scoring, which helped surge the rest of the players to step up themselves and play good defense. Team USA defeated Spain in the finals 118-107, beating them for the second time in this years Olympics.