It's Time for the 1972 U.S. Men's Basketball Team to Stop Being Babies and Collect History's Most Famous Olympic Medals
![Avery County Native Tommy Burleson's 1972 United States Olympic Men's Basketball Team Nominated for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame - High Country Press Avery County Native Tommy Burleson's 1972 United States Olympic Men's Basketball Team Nominated for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame - High Country Press](https://www.hcpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/1972-MOLY-141915949-791x1024.jpg)
Avery County Native Tommy Burleson's 1972 United States Olympic Men's Basketball Team Nominated for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame - High Country Press
![The 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team wants its silver medals in the Hall of Fame. First it has to accept them. The 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team wants its silver medals in the Hall of Fame. First it has to accept them.](https://www.baltimoresun.com/resizer/PFx7lQ_y97kC578a_g0Ii2fG3TY=/3300x2226/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/SG3WLNFZLD5WCHWMMH2KVJDK5E.jpg)
The 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team wants its silver medals in the Hall of Fame. First it has to accept them.
![Avery County Native Tommy Burleson's 1972 United States Olympic Men's Basketball Team Nominated for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame - High Country Press Avery County Native Tommy Burleson's 1972 United States Olympic Men's Basketball Team Nominated for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame - High Country Press](https://www.hcpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/1972_MOly-Team-scaled.jpg)
Avery County Native Tommy Burleson's 1972 United States Olympic Men's Basketball Team Nominated for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame - High Country Press
![U.S. Olympic basketball robbed of gold medals at Munich Olympics - Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com U.S. Olympic basketball robbed of gold medals at Munich Olympics - Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com](https://vault.si.com/.image/t_share/MTY5MDk5MzU0Mjg2NjYzMTMx/1972-olympics-basketball-team-silverjpg.jpg)
U.S. Olympic basketball robbed of gold medals at Munich Olympics - Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com
![50 stunning Olympic moments No1: USA v USSR, basketball final, 1972 | Olympic Games 2012 | The Guardian 50 stunning Olympic moments No1: USA v USSR, basketball final, 1972 | Olympic Games 2012 | The Guardian](https://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/11/16/1321439394479/basketball-animation.gif)
50 stunning Olympic moments No1: USA v USSR, basketball final, 1972 | Olympic Games 2012 | The Guardian
![U.S.A. vs U.S.S.R.: More Than Just a Game, 1972 Olympics | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report U.S.A. vs U.S.S.R.: More Than Just a Game, 1972 Olympics | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report](https://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/photos/001/792/208/1972-basketball-USvsUSSR-069_crop_north.jpeg?1342328067&w=3072&h=2048)
U.S.A. vs U.S.S.R.: More Than Just a Game, 1972 Olympics | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report
![LA84 Foundation on X: "On this day 46 years ago, the USA Men's basketball team's 63-game Olympic winning streak ended after a controversial 51-50 loss to the USSR at the 1972 Games. LA84 Foundation on X: "On this day 46 years ago, the USA Men's basketball team's 63-game Olympic winning streak ended after a controversial 51-50 loss to the USSR at the 1972 Games.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dmxz0IgXoAIZ7PU.jpg:large)