1972 Olympic men's basketball final

Common card · No. 367996

The 1972 Olympic men's basketball final was the last game of that year’s Olympic basketball tournament, and became one of the most controversial events in Olympic history. With the ending mired in controversy, during regulation play Team USA defeated the Soviet Union by one point, but the Soviet Union was awarded the victory after play was repeatedly extended. Both the U.S. and the Soviet Union won their first eight games of the tournament, with the U.S. team having its overall Olympic record at 63–0 when they advanced to the final against the USSR. The final three seconds of the game were played three times under questionable rule interpretations, leading to an ultimate victory by the Soviet team. The result of the game is disputed to this day, with widespread allegations of political corruption. The United States team had won the previous seven gold medals at the Olympics, and was among the contenders to win another in Munich at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Pimpauge, CC BY-SA 3.0