basketball hero lebron james is participating in his fourth olympic games. as the youtube short above indicates, his first participation was in athens in 2004. the team came in (finished the tournament) third–good for a bronze medal but a major disappointment (sadness, discontent). this failure, however, was followed up (the next action was) at the 2008 olympics in beijing with a gold medal. the 2008 team is known as the redeem team because their objective was to redeem ( rescue,recover, restore) the reputation of usa men’s basketball.
the 2008 men’s olympic baseketball team–the redeem team (usab.com)
as one of the biggest stars (superlative) on the redeem team (along with kobe bryant) lebron has been asked if he thinks they could’ve beaten the 1992 u.s. national men’s basketball team also known as (aka) the dream team. fans consider the dream team to be the greatest basketball team ever (in history) assembled. this article by melissa rohlin on si.com, shares lebron’s reflections on the hypothetical clash. not surprisingly, they contain a LOT of examples of past modals starting with the headline…
LeBron James Weighs In On Which Team Would’ve Won: The Dream Team Vs. The Redeem Team
weigh in means give an opinion.
the 1992 men’s olympic baseketball team–the dream team (usab.com)
would’ve won is the first example of a past modal. it’s not surprising to find so many past modals in the article because it’s the structure used to talk about hypothetical examples in the past. it’s formed by combining a modal auxiliary verb (would, could, should, must, might, may, or better), have and a verb’s past participle. would’ve is a contraction of would have. the first paragraph of the article describes it like this
lebron james discussed how the two greatest men’s national basketball teams, the 1992 dream team and the 2008 redeem team, would’ve fared against each other in an interview with uninterrupted.
the two greatest is another superlative. would’ve fared is a past modal. fare means perform, do. uninterrupted is a digital media company owned by lebron.
kobe bryant & lebron showing off the gold medals they won with redeem team
james shared his humble (modest) perspective on who would win a game between the two teams…
it would’ve been great, that’s for damn sure. i don’t know who would’ve won. i’m going to pick us, obviously, because i’m on that team. but when u got so many good players, man, u never know. whoever got the ball last could win the game.
would’ve been great and would’ve won are past modals. pick is used to show lebron believes his team would’ve won. u got and whoever got are both reductions of the have got structure. when used this way, got is the same as have/has. whoever means the team that. for damn sure is the same as for sure. damn is for emphasis. damn sure is widely used in song lyrics, like the second verse of the rolling stones classic sympathy for the devil…
i was ’round when jesus christ
had his moment of doubt and pain
made damn sure that pilate
washed his hands and sealed his fate
sealed his fate means determined what happened.
the media would likely hype (promote) a game between the dream team and the redeem team as jordan vs lebron, but there was another scoring legend on the 2008 team too.
despite the depth of talent on both teams, james joked that two players would’ve dominated all of the action–“mj and kobe are gonna have their own little game. it ain’t gonna be five-on-five. it’s gonna be one-on-one, four-on-four.”
despite means regardless of. depth is the noun equivalent of the adjective deep. would’ve dominated is another past modal. gonna is a reduction of going too. ain’t is an informal english replacement for isn’t. it’s used in the title of this classic rap by cypress hill
go out in this context means lose or die.
lebron recognized the physical power of the dream team…
one thing about the ’92 team, they had a lot of grown-ass strong men
grown-ass man is a fashionable phrase these days. it means adult. ass is a suffix here and is used for emphasis. lebron is conceding that the dream team, with players like patrick ewing, karl malone, david robinson and charles barkley was bigger and stronger than the 2008 team.
but in defense of his team, james brags…
one thing about the ’08 team, we’ve got a lot of wiggle to our game, u know what i’m saying, we got a lot of wiggle.
wiggle is not necessarily a typical word to use to describe a basketball player, but it gives the idea that lebron and teammates like kobe, dwyane wade and chris paul had the athleticism and agility to counter the dream team’s strength. maybe something like the moves the wiggles are talking about in this video, but more directly related to basketball.
get ready means prepare. it’s a great example of how get+adjective is used to indicate a change (not ready to ready in this case).
wiggle is more commonly used to describe movements that inspire sexual attraction as in the title to this popular jason derulo track…
lebron affirmed the intensity of the redeem team’s practices
we’re literally beating each other up to the point where coach [mike krzyzewski] and the coaching staff were like, ‘okay, bring it in because we’ve still got a gold medal to win.’
beat up means the redeem team practices were exceptionally physical. like is used here to introduce the dialogue of the redeem team coaches in lebron’s anecdote. coaches yell bring it in to gather their players together to talk to them, frequently at the end of practice. in lebron’s explanation, the idea is that the coaches had to end practice to stop the players from beating up on each other. at the beginning of this launch trailer for madden 20, the mvp of super bowls liv, lvii and lviii patrick mahomes shouts bring it in three times.
and the article concludes with this observation
james acknowledged that he didn’t know which team would’ve won, but he said one thing is undeniable–“it definitely would’ve been a hell of a game.”
would’ve won and would’ve been are past modals. acknowledge means recognize. hell of a, sometimes written helluva, is used for emphasis. it’s used in the title of this old school travis scott track.
the youtube short at the top of the post contains graphics that define the following words, phrases and/or concepts: irrefutably, remarkable, as well, th sound (third vs turd), indeed and redemption. these words, phrases and concepts appear in the short AND above in this post: aka, superlatives, ever and of course redeem and past modals.
BONUS! there is a second youtube short with more past modal examples inspired by lbj the basketball player, his movie space jam: a new legacy, f1 champion max verstappen and another american who had the nickname (affectionate or shortened name) lbj, 36th president of the united states lyndon baines johnson. additionally this short contains examples of charm, shall and pull a and examples of suck, involve & fuck that are not marked by a graphic
what is your opinion on the hypothetical matchup of dream team vs redeem team? is the 2024 u.s. men’s basketball team better than both? share your opinions under leave a reply
I need to understand all you say. Good job!
glad it was useful, Eu