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Three Seconds in Munich: The Controversial 1972 Olympic Basketball Final
One. Two. Three.
That’s as long as it took to sear the souls of a dozen young American men, thanks to the craziest, most controversial finish in the history of the Olympics—the 1972 gold-medal basketball contest between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world’s two superpowers at the time.
The U.S. team, whose unbeaten Olympic streak dated back to when Adolf Hitler reigned over the Berlin Games, believed it had won the gold medal that September in Munich—not once, but twice. But it was the third time the final seconds were played that counted.
What happened? The head of international basketball—flouting rules he himself had created—trotted onto the court and demanded twice that time be put back on the clock. A referee allowed an illegal substitution and an illegal free-throw shooter for the Soviets while calling a slew of late fouls on the U.S. players. The American players became the only Olympic athletes in the history of the games to refuse their medals.
Of course, the 1972 Olympics are remembered primarily for a far graver matter, when eleven Israeli team members were killed by Palestinian terrorists, stunning the world and temporarily stopping the games. One American player, Tommy Burleson, had a gun to his head as the hostages were marched past him before their deaths.
Through interviews with many of the American players and others, the author relates the horror of terrorism, the pain of losing the most controversial championship game in sports history to a hated rival, and the consequences of the players’ decision to shun their Olympic medals to this day.
That’s as long as it took to sear the souls of a dozen young American men, thanks to the craziest, most controversial finish in the history of the Olympics—the 1972 gold-medal basketball contest between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world’s two superpowers at the time.
The U.S. team, whose unbeaten Olympic streak dated back to when Adolf Hitler reigned over the Berlin Games, believed it had won the gold medal that September in Munich—not once, but twice. But it was the third time the final seconds were played that counted.
What happened? The head of international basketball—flouting rules he himself had created—trotted onto the court and demanded twice that time be put back on the clock. A referee allowed an illegal substitution and an illegal free-throw shooter for the Soviets while calling a slew of late fouls on the U.S. players. The American players became the only Olympic athletes in the history of the games to refuse their medals.
Of course, the 1972 Olympics are remembered primarily for a far graver matter, when eleven Israeli team members were killed by Palestinian terrorists, stunning the world and temporarily stopping the games. One American player, Tommy Burleson, had a gun to his head as the hostages were marched past him before their deaths.
Through interviews with many of the American players and others, the author relates the horror of terrorism, the pain of losing the most controversial championship game in sports history to a hated rival, and the consequences of the players’ decision to shun their Olympic medals to this day.
264 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2019
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About the author
David A.F. Sweet
2 books27 followersDavid A. F. Sweet is the author of Three Seconds in Munich: The Controversial 1972 Olympic Basketball Final and Lamar Hunt: The Gentle Giant Who Revolutionized Professional Sports. He has launched columns for WSJ.com and NBCSports.com and has written articles for the Chicago Sun-Times, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He lives outside Chicago with his wife and three children.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 10, 2019
One of the most controversial events in sports history was the ending of the gold medal game in the 1972 Summer Olympics between the United States and the Soviet Union. At that point, the U.S. had never lost a basketball game since it became an Olympic sport in 1936. In that game, Doug Collins sank two free throws to give the United States its first lead of the game at 50-49 with three seconds remaining. What followed next is the basis for this book on the crazy, controversial ending of the game, written by David A.F. Sweet.
Even though the book is primarily about the last three seconds about that game, the book starts with an even more chilling reason why the 1972 Munich Games are still seared in people’s memories nearly fifty years later. On September 5, 1972, Palestinian terrorists stormed the Olympic Village (with short chain link fencing and minimal security per Sweet) and held 11 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage. When an attempt to rescue the hostages at the Munich airport went bad, all 11 of them were killed. Sweet’s writing about this tragic day, and the reactions of the United States basketball players who were there to witness this makes up some of the best reading in the book, even better than some of the basketball passages.
However, those are very good in their own right. Sweet leads the reader up to that moment by recapping the first 39 minutes and 57 seconds of the game very well, up to the point Collins approaches the free throw line to take his shots. After that, he dives into all of the craziness on the floor. After Collins makes the two shots, the Soviets fail to score, giving the U.S. an apparent victory. Then, Sweet goes into excellent detail about the Soviet coaches attempting to call a time out, and the head of FIBA, the international basketball governing body, allowing the Soviets to have three seconds put back on. On this second chance, they again miss, but confusion reigns as the horn sounds and the scoreboard clock doesn’t have an accurate time since in those days, the only way to reset the clock to a time less than a minute is to set one minute, then run it down to that specified time. While this was being done for, that is when the second attempt was made.
But thanks to Dr. Jones, that head of FIBA, there is yet another chance given to the Soviet Union, which they converted after some questionable actions by the referee, such as not allowing Tom Burleson of the US to defend at the baseline to challenge the inbound pass and the apparent pushing foul before the winning shot was taken. After all of this chaos, the final score read USSR 51, USA 50. But that was far from the final word on this game. Sweet takes the reader on more twists and turns – the failed appeal by the US, the mindset of Dr. Jones and his desire to see more nations than just the United States succeed in basketball and the medal ceremony in which the US failed to appear and refused to accept the silver medal. It has been nearly 50 years since that game, and the players, to a man, still have not accepted their medals. This aftermath is also captured nicely by Sweet, especially when he wrote about the team reuniting in 2012 and confirming yet again that they will not accept that silver medal.
Whether one remembers that game vividly, as this reviewer does as a 10 year old youth basketball player, or has just heard the various stories, he or she needs to read this book to not only learn all of the head-scratching and infuriating decisions made by others affecting the outcome of this game, but also to learn a little about each member of that team, including all of the players and coach Hank Iba (who at times is unfairly blamed for the loss). A must-read for all Olympic basketball fans.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
Even though the book is primarily about the last three seconds about that game, the book starts with an even more chilling reason why the 1972 Munich Games are still seared in people’s memories nearly fifty years later. On September 5, 1972, Palestinian terrorists stormed the Olympic Village (with short chain link fencing and minimal security per Sweet) and held 11 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage. When an attempt to rescue the hostages at the Munich airport went bad, all 11 of them were killed. Sweet’s writing about this tragic day, and the reactions of the United States basketball players who were there to witness this makes up some of the best reading in the book, even better than some of the basketball passages.
However, those are very good in their own right. Sweet leads the reader up to that moment by recapping the first 39 minutes and 57 seconds of the game very well, up to the point Collins approaches the free throw line to take his shots. After that, he dives into all of the craziness on the floor. After Collins makes the two shots, the Soviets fail to score, giving the U.S. an apparent victory. Then, Sweet goes into excellent detail about the Soviet coaches attempting to call a time out, and the head of FIBA, the international basketball governing body, allowing the Soviets to have three seconds put back on. On this second chance, they again miss, but confusion reigns as the horn sounds and the scoreboard clock doesn’t have an accurate time since in those days, the only way to reset the clock to a time less than a minute is to set one minute, then run it down to that specified time. While this was being done for, that is when the second attempt was made.
But thanks to Dr. Jones, that head of FIBA, there is yet another chance given to the Soviet Union, which they converted after some questionable actions by the referee, such as not allowing Tom Burleson of the US to defend at the baseline to challenge the inbound pass and the apparent pushing foul before the winning shot was taken. After all of this chaos, the final score read USSR 51, USA 50. But that was far from the final word on this game. Sweet takes the reader on more twists and turns – the failed appeal by the US, the mindset of Dr. Jones and his desire to see more nations than just the United States succeed in basketball and the medal ceremony in which the US failed to appear and refused to accept the silver medal. It has been nearly 50 years since that game, and the players, to a man, still have not accepted their medals. This aftermath is also captured nicely by Sweet, especially when he wrote about the team reuniting in 2012 and confirming yet again that they will not accept that silver medal.
Whether one remembers that game vividly, as this reviewer does as a 10 year old youth basketball player, or has just heard the various stories, he or she needs to read this book to not only learn all of the head-scratching and infuriating decisions made by others affecting the outcome of this game, but also to learn a little about each member of that team, including all of the players and coach Hank Iba (who at times is unfairly blamed for the loss). A must-read for all Olympic basketball fans.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
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February 11, 2022Impeccably researched and I had no idea. I'll just say that --
November 9, 2019
I have read, watched documentaries about the ‘72 Olympic men’s basketball team and it always pisses me off knowing that the players and coaches got ripped off. I tip my hat to the players to standing firm and not or never accepting a silver medal. Way to go! I still cannot believe, after all the evidence that this happened. Unbelievable. I enjoyed the authors angle of writing this book. I enjoyed the book, but it still pisses me off.
November 26, 2019
Excellent recounting of the events. Very enjoyable sports book.
September 4, 2022
Basketball first became an Olympic sport during the Berlin games of 1936. By 1972, the United States had still never lost a single Olympic game in the sport. This was true even though Americans were sending amateur college athletes and the Russians (And other Eastern block countries) were cheating by sending professionals. Something had to be done to beat the Americans.
There is no question that the fix was in. The last three seconds of this game were so manipulated by Renato William Jones, the secretary general of the International Basketball Federation, that they were no longer playing basketball, but some playground game. Know that Jones had no authority to do any of the things he did to manipulate the outcome of this game. What he had was leverage over the officials and backing from the Russians. The question that goes unanswered is whether he did it as a communist sympathizer or he just wanted someone to beat the Olympic Americans so basketball could be more interesting. To call yourself secretary general, even that sounds like some Iron Curtain title even if the guy was an Englishman. The guy was a scoundrel.
The Americans said the IOC could stuff their Silver medals and they got on a plane to go home. They didn't care what the penalty would be. And despite pleas from officials to take the medals they still want nothing to do with them half a century later. The most heroic thing in the whole book.
Growing up in the 1980s I'm surprised that the 1972 Munich games were so little spoken of. I'm sure there were references in the evening news that I didn't watch, but I have no memory of people talking about them. Until the Spielberg movie about the terrorist kidnapping the Israeli team, it just wasn't something in Generation X consciousness like the Challenger explosion or Reagan getting shot. So this basketball game at the same Olympics was really minutia compared to murder. Thankfully David F.A. Sweet takes the event and gives us an interesting tale of cold war politics and the resentment of the American domination of basketball.
I wish there were more short books that cover interesting historical moments.
There is no question that the fix was in. The last three seconds of this game were so manipulated by Renato William Jones, the secretary general of the International Basketball Federation, that they were no longer playing basketball, but some playground game. Know that Jones had no authority to do any of the things he did to manipulate the outcome of this game. What he had was leverage over the officials and backing from the Russians. The question that goes unanswered is whether he did it as a communist sympathizer or he just wanted someone to beat the Olympic Americans so basketball could be more interesting. To call yourself secretary general, even that sounds like some Iron Curtain title even if the guy was an Englishman. The guy was a scoundrel.
The Americans said the IOC could stuff their Silver medals and they got on a plane to go home. They didn't care what the penalty would be. And despite pleas from officials to take the medals they still want nothing to do with them half a century later. The most heroic thing in the whole book.
Growing up in the 1980s I'm surprised that the 1972 Munich games were so little spoken of. I'm sure there were references in the evening news that I didn't watch, but I have no memory of people talking about them. Until the Spielberg movie about the terrorist kidnapping the Israeli team, it just wasn't something in Generation X consciousness like the Challenger explosion or Reagan getting shot. So this basketball game at the same Olympics was really minutia compared to murder. Thankfully David F.A. Sweet takes the event and gives us an interesting tale of cold war politics and the resentment of the American domination of basketball.
I wish there were more short books that cover interesting historical moments.
January 7, 2022
A retrospective look at the 1972 Olympics focused on the Gold Medal basketball game between the true amateurs of the USA and the professional amateurs of the Soviet Union. Mr. Sweet spends a good bit of time on those last 3 seconds that were played, replayed and replayed again, making the case for an unjust ending that awarded the wrong team, the wrong country the gold medal.
No book about anything related to the 1972 Olympics in Munich would be complete without recalling the kidnapping and attack by terrorist group, Black September that claimed the lives of 11 Israeli athletes, coaches and referees.
What stayed with me the most is the camaraderie the US team had and their absolute resolve to unanimously not accept the silver medals - believing they had won and deserved the gold. The author also reviews all the evidence of what happened during the game and especially at the end of the game - making a strong case that many involved in the administration of the game - referees, the head of the international basketball association that oversaw the rules for the Olympic Games, played a part in ensuring that the Soviet Union won the game.
No book about anything related to the 1972 Olympics in Munich would be complete without recalling the kidnapping and attack by terrorist group, Black September that claimed the lives of 11 Israeli athletes, coaches and referees.
What stayed with me the most is the camaraderie the US team had and their absolute resolve to unanimously not accept the silver medals - believing they had won and deserved the gold. The author also reviews all the evidence of what happened during the game and especially at the end of the game - making a strong case that many involved in the administration of the game - referees, the head of the international basketball association that oversaw the rules for the Olympic Games, played a part in ensuring that the Soviet Union won the game.
January 16, 2025
A very good book about the still controversial 1972 Olympic mens basketball final. I remember watching it as a twelve year old, and as a Long Islander, I was particularly rooting on fellow LI'er Kevin Joyce of Bayside who had starred at Archbishop Molly HS before going on to South Carolina.
Wanting to enhance my limited memory of the details of the game, and the overall 1972 olympiad, I sought out books on the game.
I had just read Stolen Glory by Mike Brewster & Taps Gallagher but wanted more. While I feel Stolen Glory provided more in-depth history of the individual players and coaches, as well as more info on the selection process and pre-Olympic training, Three Seconds in Munich detailed more of the gold medal game and better laid out the major reasons the US and the basketball world contested the outcome.
While both books also dealt with the horrific Israeli hostage crisis, Three Seconds in Munich gave a better overall recap of that nightmare.
Both terrific books for different reasons and worth the read.
Wanting to enhance my limited memory of the details of the game, and the overall 1972 olympiad, I sought out books on the game.
I had just read Stolen Glory by Mike Brewster & Taps Gallagher but wanted more. While I feel Stolen Glory provided more in-depth history of the individual players and coaches, as well as more info on the selection process and pre-Olympic training, Three Seconds in Munich detailed more of the gold medal game and better laid out the major reasons the US and the basketball world contested the outcome.
While both books also dealt with the horrific Israeli hostage crisis, Three Seconds in Munich gave a better overall recap of that nightmare.
Both terrific books for different reasons and worth the read.
April 26, 2020
Very great telling of the controversial gold medal basketball game in 1972 at Munich Olympics. And that was only a few days after the terrorists murdered a bunch of Israeli athletes at the games. There is no doubt that the USA won the basketball gold medal and it really makes your blood boil to read about all the cheating by officials that gave Russia the victory.
December 24, 2020
I was appalled on the team’s behalf when I first heard about the 1972 USA basketball controversy during a segment on NBC during the 1992 Olympics. (The story that used the song “What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted,” and if I ever hear it, I think about the U.S. basketball team.) I loved this deep dive into what happened in those three seconds and how the players perceive it today.
September 2, 2024
Mooie beschrijving van de gebeurtenissen. In het slot mis ik een diepere duiding van de koude oorlog en de terroristische aanslag in het Olympisch dorp - en gaat het zo veel over het onrecht en of en hoe dat recht gezet kan worden dat de neutraliteit verdwijnt. Daarom toch een teleurstellend oordeel.
January 13, 2021
Well researched book and a quick read. I was in 9th grade and I remember watching the terrorist event and of course the basketball game. Interesting hearing the players view of all that happened. Book will just make you angrier if you saw the game in 1972.
June 11, 2024
Interesting read. More than just about the last three seconds of the basketball game. A look a tragic day in Olympic History and the stories of the athletes who played the game. How it effected them not only during that time but the rest of their lives.
November 9, 2023
Great story, terrible writing. I doubt there’s a single primary source. Mike Bantom fouls out, then is back on the floor when Collins steals the ball? I could go on.
November 30, 2024
As a young boy, I watched with dismay and disgust the USA being cheated out of the gold medal they deserved. This book brought back those memories.
May 25, 2025
A good telling of a controversial event that I remember well (or thought I did). I learned a lot about the incident and events leading up to it.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews