BEIJING -- When the final buzzer sounded, the exuberant United States basketball team huddled at midcourt, hopped up and down like a bunch of college kids and kept chanting "USA, USA!"

Redeemed, indeed.

American men's basketball is back, but the proof wasn't just Sunday's thrilling 118-107 victory over Spain, giving the U.S. its first gold medal since 2000 in the sport it invented.

Atonement for the fiasco of 2004 occurred in various forms during two weeks of 8-0 basketball in Beijing. The frenetic, entertaining and, yes, closer-than-expected finale at Wukesong Arena was the exclamation point.

"What you saw today was a team," said Kobe Bryant, who scored 13 of his 20 points during the final 7:58, after the Spaniards had pulled within 91-89.

"Everybody wants to talk about NBA players being selfish, being arrogant, being individuals. What you saw today was a team bonding together."

The unflattering reputation didn't start four years ago in Athens, but what happened there amplified it. En route to a 5-3 bronze medal finish, the Americans often played individual basketball and were equally aloof off the court.

Former Phoenix owner Jerry Colangelo was hired as USA Basketball's managing director in April 2005 and spent the last three years changing the culture.

In Beijing, his 12-man team of NBA multimillionaires, dubbed the Redeem Team, was accommodating to fans, fellow athletes and media. The players immersed themselves in the Olympic experience and seemed to enjoy it.

Anyone who wondered about the genuineness only had to watch the postgame scene and hear the kidlike shouts of Bryant and Dwyane Wade(27 points) as they raced to the locker room.

"With all the egos, we became one ego," said Mavericks guard Jason Kidd, who became the 13th USA male basketball player to earn two gold medals. "That was a beautiful thing to see, especially when we took the floor."

Along with their personality makeover, the Americans were deeper and more athletic, a product of Colangelo getting firm commitments from top-shelf NBA players -- unlike 2004 when nine of the original 12 team members pulled out.

And it almost wasn't enough. Spain, the reigning world champion, obviously played possum in a 119-82 preliminary-round loss to the Americans on Aug. 16.

Even without injured Jose Calderon, the Spaniards raced up and down with their more famous opponents.

"They took this tournament very seriously," Spain forward Pau Gasol said of the Americans. "I've seen the guys very hungry and wanting to get back on top. That's what they've done. But they had to work for it."

The pulsating finish seemed to make the journey all the more rewarding.

"The intensity of the game was unbelievable," LeBron James said. "It will probably go down in history as one of the best Olympic games ever."

The U.S. set a record for most points scored in a gold medal game, breaking the 117 by 1992's vaunted Dream Team. Croatia's 85 points that day was the previous high by a losing team.

After their victory huddle, the American players went one-by-one to the NBC broadcast table to shake hands with Doug Collins, who in 1972 seemingly had scored the winning points in the controversial 51-50 gold medal game loss to Russia.

Now, America is 13-1 in gold medal games, but this one was about more than medals.

"We were at America's lowest point in '04," said Carmelo Anthony, who along with Wade, James and Carlos Boozer played on the Athens team.

"To be sitting in front of you guys right now on top of the world, I think we did a hell of a job putting American basketball back where it's supposed to be."

United States 118, Spain 107

SPAIN

R.Fernandez 7-13 3-3 22, P.Gasol 9-18 3-5 21, J.Navarro 6-14 6-8 18, C.Jimenez 3-4 4-4 12, M.Gasol 5-9 1-2 11, F.Reyes 5-8 0-0 10, R.Rubio 1-3 4-4 6, J.Garbajosa 1-2 0-0 3, B.Rodriguez 1-1 0-0 2, A.Mumbru 0-2 2-2 2, J.Calderon 0-0 0-0 0, R.Lopez 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 38-74 23-28 107.

UNITED STATES

D.Wade 9-12 5-7 27, K.Bryant 7-14 3-3 20, L.James 6-9 0-2 14, C.Paul 2-5 9-10 13, C.Anthony 5-11 0-1 13, D.Howard 3-3 2-6 8, C.Bosh 1-2 6-6 8, D.Williams 2-5 2-2 7, T.Prince 3-3 0-0 6, J.Kidd 1-1 0-0 2, C.Boozer 0-0 0-0 0, M.Redd 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 39-65 27-37 118.

Spain 31 30 21 25 --107

United States 38 31 22 27 --118

3-Point goals--Spain 8-17 (R.Fernandez 5-9, C.Jimenez 2-3, J.Garbajosa 1-1, J.Navarro 0-2, M.Gasol 0-1, R.Rubio 0-1), United States 13-28 (D.Wade 4-7, K.Bryant 3-8, C.Anthony 3-7, L.James 2-3, D.Williams 1-2, C.Paul 0-1). Fouled out--Spain (R.Fernandez), . Rebounds--Spain 37 (F.Reyes 7), United States 31 (C.Bosh 7). Assists--Spain 16 (J.Navarro 4), United States 17 (K.Bryant 6). Fouls--Spain 29, United States 26.