SAITAMA, Japan — Gregg Popovich, the head coach of the United States men’s basketball team, exhaled on Saturday afternoon as he contemplated his team’s 87-82 victory over France to win an Olympic gold medal.
“Do you know what sayonara means,” Popovich said, smiling. “That’s how I’m feeling now.”
It was that kind of summer for Popovich and the American players, who are always expected to dominate international basketball, yet always explaining how hard it is to do so.
This time around, though, the difficulty felt palpable. The players described their road to the title as an odyssey.