Nobody else had been close to the Americans in Beijing. This team's only Olympic competition had been history, in a Dream matchup with guys named Jordan, Magic, Bird and the rest of the U.S. team that dominated the Barcelona Games in 1992.

Forget comparisons to those guys. The Americans were lucky to be better than Spain on Sunday.

Rudy Fernandez scored 22 points and Pau Gasol had 21 for the Spanish, the reigning world champions who were hoping to win their first Olympic gold.

U.S. players appreciated the game Spain gave them. After the contest they hugged the Spanish players. Bryant had an especially long embrace for Gasol, patting his Los Angeles Lakers teammate on the back.

Seeming to appreciate the moment, after congratulating Spain, the team joined in a circle, jumping up and down at center court and waving triumphantly to the crowd as coach Mike Krzyzewski applauded on the sidelines.

The Americans had won their first seven games by 30.3 points, including a 119-82 rout of Spain. But they never had control of this game, giving up open looks from the perimeter and plenty of points in the paint.

But Bryant, who waited so long to finally wear the red, white and blue, hit two 3-pointers in a big fourth quarter to add the gold medal to the only piece of hoops hardware he didn't already own. The NBA MVP pounded his hands toward the floor in celebration at the end.

LeBron James scored 14 points, while Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul had 13 apiece for the Americans, who had won bronze medals in their last two international events, the 2004 Olympics and '06 world championships.

Boasting of an average margin of victory of 37.6 points a game for its eight game run to gold, the 2008 U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball Team (8-0) crushed all comers on the way to the Olympic gold medal, including previously unbeaten Australia (7-1) in a 92-65 blowout in the gold medal game on Saturday night at Wukesong Arena in Beijing, China.

First-time Olympian Kara Lawson (Sacramento Monarchs) led the way with 15 points off the bench on a flawless 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 accuracy from the foul line, followed by 14 points and seven rebounds from the USA's only consecutive four-time gold medalist in history, 36-year-old Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks). Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks) also tallied 14 points and hit 4-of-4 from the floor, while Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky) added 13 points and five rebounds.

Rhianna and Chris Brown together?

IT'S OFFICIAL CHRIS BROWN IS FUCKIN RIHANNA

R.I.P BERNIE MAC YOU WILL BE MISSED

AGGGH DAMN MAN MY BOY BERNIE GONE I CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE IT, ONE OF THE FUNNIEST DUDES ON EARTH GONE AT 50
NOT MUCH I CAN SAY BOUT THIS HERE



Bernie Mac’s wife and daughter were with him until the very end, says the late comic's sister-in-law in a personal and touching interview with PEOPLE that took place Saturday.

Speaking of a heartbreaking moment between her younger sister, Rhonda, and the 50-year-old actor-comedian – who succumbed to complications from pneumonia in a Chicago hospital at 2 a.m. Saturday – Mary Ann Grossett says that the night before Mac died, "He struggled for his life. He couldn't breathe.

"He opened his eyes on his own and looked at Rhonda. She called his name, and he opened his eyes and nodded to her. She smiled at him and told him, 'Don't leave me … 'I'm waiting for you to come back.' He shrugged his shoulders, and she said that's when she knew he was tired. He signaled to her that his body was tired."

Rhonda, Mac’s wife since 1977, and their 30-year-old daughter, Je'Niece, were with him when he died. "[The doctors] were working on him," says Grossett. "They tried to resuscitate him two times. One time he came back for about an hour. Then he went into cardiac arrest the second time."

Prior to that, the couple had last communicated on July 31. "He told his wife [non-verbally] that he could breathe on his own, and he wanted the ventilator out. He motioned that he wanted it out," says Grossett.

The sister-in-law says Mac's inflammatory lung disease contributed to his death. "He had sarcoidosis, but it was in remission," she says. "But because he had it, his immune system was compromised. He had an infection ... He was on a new medication that suppresses the immune system, and that's where the pneumonia came from."

She reveals that Mac – having trouble breathing and running a fever – was actually hospitalized on July 24, eight days before the date given for his admittance. The actor was diagnosed with pneumonia and immediately placed on a ventilator.

"He was critically ill when he was in the hospital," says Gossett. "He was in intensive care the whole time."

She adds that doctors kept the star sedated, although he was conscious at times and he contracted a second strain of pneumonia while in the hospital.