This story, by correspondent Dave Dorr, first appeared in the Sept. 23, 1972, issue of The Sporting News under the headline “Confusion Reigns as U.S. Court Dynasty Collapses”.
MUNICH, W. Germany — In the wild confusion at the finish of the United States-Russia Olympic championship basketball game, somebody lifted Henry Iba's billfold.
The pickpocket job was nothing compared with the grand larceny out on the floor. Not even a Hollywood script writer could have come up with a more bizarre windup.
And when it was over, America's amazing streak of 63 consecutive Olympic victories and seven straight gold medals had been wiped out.
You had to see it to believe it. Iba saw it. He still doesn't believe it. An overflow crowd of 6,600 saw it, and three hours after the finish, you could get 6,600 different opinions of what happened in the final, incredible three seconds. Or was it six seconds?
Today is the 50th anniversary of the most controversial Olympic game ever- the US vs Soviet basketball game at the Munich '72 Olympics. Here I am celebrating our win and then the refs took the game away from us. Till this day, we have never accepted the silver medals. pic.twitter.com/UkxD12RwoI
— Tom McMillen (@TomMcMillen611) September 9, 2022
The sequence of events went like this: Doug Collins swished in a pair of free throws with three seconds left to put America ahead, 50-49, for the first time in the game. Just as Collins put the second free throw up, the horn sounded. Russian Coach Vladimir Kondrashin wanted a timeout called after Collins' first free throw. He pressed the button on the Soviet bench, which signals the timer, but the timer was late sounding the horn.
U.S. Celebrates Win
Three seconds showed on the scoreboard. Russia's Ivan Edeshko threw a bounce pass to Sergei Belov at mid-court. As Belov grabbed the ball, the horn sounded again. The U.S. players, thinking the game was over, rushed onto the floor, dancing and pounding each other on the back. But wait. Kondrashin was on his feet, gesturing to the referees that he had called time.
The officials, Renato Righetto of Brazil and Artenik Arabadjan of Bulgaria, agreed. R. William Jones, head of FIBA (International Federation of Amateur Basketball), the governing body for the Olympics, was seen at the scorer's table holding up three fingers in front of the timer.
Russia got its timeout. The clock was reset to three seconds and Edeshko went back under the Soviet basket to put the ball in play again. This time he fired a long pass to Aleksander Belov at the other end of the floor.
Belov Sinks Basket
Kevin Joyce and James Forbes were double-teaming the 6-8 Belov. Suddenly both were on the floor as Belov caught the ball, took a step, pivoted and banked a short jumper that fell through the net as the horn sounded.
Iba and his players stared in disbelief. At the other end of the court, Russia's team and its fans, who came pouring out of their seats, were crumpled in a huge pile, sobbing tears of joy. Belov's jumper was a shot heard ’round the world. For the first time in history, America's Olympic basketball team had been beaten.
TSN ARCHIVES:
Iba, red-faced with anger, rushed to the scorer's table, pleading that the timer had made a mistake. According to FIBA rules, no timeout could have been called once the official handed the ball to Collins for his second free throw
The U.S. protested the game. The public address announcer asked that the spectators clear the arena. The awards ceremony was called off.
Reporters scrambled for position at the scorer's table. Iba's face was engulfed in a mass of tape-recorder microphones and notebooks. There was a report that Righetto was refusing to sign the scorebook and was, himself, protesting the finish. That was not true, it turned out later.
Iba, making no headway with officials at the table, spun on his heels and headed for the interview room. Reporters sprinted after him.
Once inside, Iba sat at the table and shook his head. "Get me some water," he growled. "I can't talk without some water."
The game had started at 11:30 p.m. so that it could be televised back to America on prime time. It was now 1:30 a.m. in Munich.
Coach Iba Stunned
"I've never seen anything like this in my life," said Iba, his hoarse voice barely audible.
"There's no possible way those people could have won that. We thought the game was over. Then they tell me there's three seconds to play. Now the clock can't start until the ball touches the hands of that big guy under our basket. He catches the ball. He jumps up to get it and goes to the floor. Then he turns to shoot. Gentlemen, there's no damn way he can get the ball off and in the basket in three seconds, no damn way.
"We had two men back there and they were both knocked on their cans."
A reporter asked Iba: "Did the U. S. get jobbed?"
"No, I won't say that," replied Iba. "But I'll say there was organized confusion out here."
More questions. Did the FIBA representative have the right to go to the scorer's table and apparently indicate that the clock should be reset to three seconds? Did the officials violate the rules by allowing the timeout after Collins' second free throw?
Writers Seek Details
Iba left and returned to the U. S. dressing room. Fifteen minutes later, the reporters were back in the interview room listening to details of the protest and how the FIBA jury of appeals would handle it.
Now it was 2:30 a.m. and the jury went into a huddle in a locked room. At 4 o'clock, reporters were pacing like zombies. Iba tried to enter the room to talk with the jury members and was kicked out.
At 5 a.m. the jury, still without a decision, left the arena. The FIBA members reconvened at noon and viewed tapes provided by German television and ABC of the last two minutes. The referees and officials at the scorer's table were questioned.
The jury made up of representatives from Poland, Cuba, Hungary, Italy and Puerto Rico then ruled that Russia was the winner, 51-50. One source sad Poland, Hungary and Cuba voted for Russia and that Italy and Puerto Rico voted for the United States.
A bitter Iba and his players decided unanimously not to accept their silver medals. "We legally and morally won the gold," said Joyce, a University of South Carolina senior. Iba said giving the gold medals to the Russians was "robbery."
Observed the Russian coach: "The game lasted 39 minutes and 59 seconds (there are two 20-minute halves in Olympic competition) because the Americans still had one second to make a basket after we scored. The Americans made a mistake by sending only one player back to guard Belov."
A Different Game
Said a reporter: "He (Kondrashin) didn't see the same game the rest of us did."
The U.S. played poorly. For the first time in nine games, America didn't intimidate the opposition. The Soviets used an aggressive defense. The jittery Yanks scored only 21 points in the first half and trailed, 44-36, before a rally sparked by Tom Henderson, Joyce and Forbes brought them back. Forbes hit a jumper with 38 seconds to play that put the U.S. within one, at 49-48.
"We kept waiting for 'em to crack," said Iba, meaning the Soviets. "But they didn't. They sure didn't."
The U.S. asked for a review by the executive board of the International Olympic Committee, but Iba flew home to Oklahoma without waiting for the result.
The medal ceremony, a day late, was held in the Olympics' crowded Sportshalle after the conclusion of the final team handball game.
Russia and Cuba, which finished third, lined up behind the No. 1 and No. 3 steps of the podium. The U. S. players did not appear. After presenting the gold medals to the Russians, the Olympic official paused momentarily in front of the vacant No. 2 position and then went on to award the bronze medals to the Cubans.