The gesture was small in proportion, though grandiose symbolically as Kobe Bryant doused coach Mike Krzyzewski with water from his small water bottle when it was evident that Team USA had indeed clinched the gold medal game over Spain.

In this era when dumping gallons of beverage on a championship coach has become commonplace, Bryant couldn't resist the ritual — if limited — out of respect for the coach he finally got to play for after numerous false starts.

Medals

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News

• Team USA tops Spain to regain gold
• Official: Paperwork created age issue
• U.S. wins men's volleyball gold
• Olympian banned for kicking ref
• Omega releases Phelps win photos
• Brazil tops American women for gold
• Cuban loses gold, kicks referee
• Both 1,600 relays golden for U.S.
• U.S, women claim hoops gold again
• U.S. baseball wins bronze medal

Analysis

• Rosenberg: Questions remain in Beijing
• Whitlock: Critics spurred Redeem Team
• Rosen: Team USA's road to redemption

Multimedia

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• PHOTOS: Day 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1
• PHOTOS: Olympic beauties | Mascots
• PHOTOS: Women's beach volleyball
• PHOTOS: Opening Ceremony

But to Krzyzewski's credit, he bowed but never broke his commitment to college athletics and Duke in particular. Granted, there is no more secure job in sports than to be an iconic college coach in basketball or football. The money, fame and power are tantamount to the CEO of a major corporation and Krzyzewski, 61, has attained all of that and more during his 28 years and three NCAA championships at Duke, in addition to his 803 wins at Duke and Army combined.

The Lakers aren't the only team that has tempted him over the years. There were the Trail Blazers, the Celtics and his hometown Chicago Bulls, plus untold more. A graduate of West Point where he played for loutish Bob Knight, he assisted Knight for a year at Indiana and then became head coach at Army for five before taking over Duke in 1980.

As is the case with any great coach, there is the control factor and egocentricity in Krzyzewski that has made him both beloved and resented depending on which side of the fence you stand. Nonetheless, K's brilliance has emanated not only in his ability to distance himself from Knight's boorish behavior but retain a delicate respect for him as a man who so obviously helped jump-start his adulthood and professional life.

Krzyzewski had the opportunity to be an assistant to coach Chuck Daly in 1992 as the Dream Team roared through Barcelona for a gold medal as the first Team USA with NBA players. He was even allowed to bring his own Blue Devil Christian Laettner along as a tribute to college players who had always represented the United States to that point.

That was Krzyzewski's first lesson in coaching NBA stars. He obviously learned by studying the contrast of Daly (who never called a timeout) and Brown (who never released the drawstrings) and found his own balance.

Nonetheless, his resolve was written on his face in every setting for the three years leading up to the gold medal. There was an unmitigated focus that appeared different than the zillions of times we have seen him during his 10 Final Fours at Duke, and perhaps played a role in the relative slide at Duke the past two seasons. This was different. This reminded everybody that his basketball career as a player and coach at Army meant as much to him patriotically as it did athletically.

And that's what brought out the best of Coach K in the 2008 Olympics. He did it for his love of basketball, his desire to prove he could successfully coach NBA players and he did it out of respect for his country.

That's why Bryant had to get him wet. That first step back down to earth is a big one.