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When Kevin Garnett Opened Up About Team USA's Prize Money on Yao Ming Dunker in 2000 Olympics; DETAILS Inside
Kevin Garnett had epic battles against Yao Ming in the NBA but before that they met in the Olympics in 2000.
Among the men's basketball teams that have won gold in the country's history, the 2000 squad may be the most reserved. Though they had a low-key reputation, they had planned some nasty projects behind the scenes that would have exposed Yao Ming, who was a rising star.
Kevin Garnett claims that during the 2000 Olympic Games, Yao had a $1 million bounty placed on his head by the entire Team USA squad. The player with the highest payout would have been the one who successfully dunked against the 7'6" Chinese sensation.
What did Garnett say?
Garnett said, "First of all, people didn't know we had a bounty out on Yao Ming. The whole USA team had a bet. We had a million-dollar bet on who was going to be the first person to dunk on Yao Ming."
The Team USA stars couldn’t dunk on Yao Ming
China and the United States faced off in the opening match of the Olympic preliminary round. Yao was only 17 years old when he first came to the attention of Sydney's spotlight due to his enormous frame, making him one of the tallest basketball players. He has established himself as the newest and greatest thing in international hoops.
Team USA crushed China by almost 50 points in their resounding victory. Regretfully, the Americans were unable to complete the task at hand and win the matchup that they had set out for themselves.
In 16 minutes, the future star of the Houston Rockets finished with a meager 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Nevertheless, Yao's on-court exposure was not capitalized upon by the entire USA roster. Despite numerous efforts and daring drives through the basket, nobody was able to overcome Yao's enormous stature by featuring him on an all-time poster.
Garnett added, "None of us did. We all tried to dunk on Yao, but he would block it or we would miss."
Vince Carter ended up posterizing Frederick Weiss
Rather than Yao, Team USA, led by Vince Carter, unexpectedly made Frederick Weiss their poor victim. Dubbed the "Dunk of Death," Carter leaped over the 7'2" French giant and flushed a one-handed jam to cap off an incredible highlight-reel play.
Weis's unsuccessful NBA entry was partly caused by the severe basketball scar he received from this vicious dunk. Yao can only feel grateful that this moment in his early career did not come to pass.
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