The United States had been losing games like this for years.

With the 2008 Olympic gold medal on the line, the heavily favored Americans were in jeopardy of another international embarrassment. Spain had outplayed them for much of the fourth quarter, slicing the U.S. lead to five points with 3 1/2 minutes left.

They needed to respond, and with their choice of NBA superstars, the Americans kicked the ball out to Kobe Bryant.

He nailed a 3-pointer as he was fouled, pressing his finger to his lips after his follow-through as if to tell the rowdy Spanish fans behind the basket _ and maybe all those U.S. basketball critics _ that it was time to quiet down.

Bryant's four-point play helped the Americans hold on, ending their eight-year gold-medal drought.

All it took was finally getting the world's best player in uniform, someone so good he deserves to be considered among the candidates for The Associated Press' Athlete of the Decade.

"One thing that's been obvious throughout his career is that he's been a fierce competitor and many people in basketball would say he's the closest thing that we've seen to Michael Jordan's competitiveness," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said. "And he's a winner."

That Bryant and his teammates would want the ball in his hands in such a huge spot wasn't a surprise: That's exactly where many NBA experts say it should be.

In NBA.com's recent survey of general managers, 89.7 percent of the respondents picked Bryant as the player they would want taking a shot with the game on the line, up from 88.9 percent last year. Try finding any other situation in sports, other than perhaps picking Tiger Woods to take the do-or-die putt or Mariano Rivera to close out a World Series game, where so many would come down on the same side of the debate.

"I really have no fear of those situations," Bryant said. "I enjoy those moments, they're fun. I look forward to those situations."

Bryant had plenty before he was even 25. He'd already accumulated Hall of Fame credentials during the Lakers' run of three straight championships from 2000-02, scoring 29.4 points per game during their 15-1 playoff stampede in '01 that was as dominant as any postseason in sports history.

Plenty of greats who never won a title would have happily settled for that. Not Bryant.

He posted some of his best statistical years after Los Angeles traded Shaquille O'Neal in 2004, averaging 35.4 points in 2005-06 _ highlighted by his 81-point night that ranks No. 2 on the NBA's single-game list _ and 31.6 the next season.