The gold medal had been around his neck for about half a second before he lifted it gently with both hands, studied it carefully with a wide smile on his face, and raised it to his lips to kiss it. Nothing ever had tasted so sweet.

"It's a great feeling," the Jazz guard said later. "No words can really express how I feel right now, how the team feels. It's just a great feeling. It's something we're so proud of."

Redemption, at last.

Four years after its most ignominious defeat, the U.S. men's basketball team - including Williams and Jazz teammate Carlos Boozer" - resumed its place at the pinnacle of the international game with a pulsating 118-107 victory over defending world champion Spain in the gold-medal game of the Beijing Olympics on Sunday that was much closer than most people expected.

"It will probably go down in history as one of the greatest Olympic games ever," forward LeBron James said.

Every member of the team piled into a post-game press conference, draped in American flags and holding the flowers they received on the medal stand, to celebrate the completion of a three-year quest to restore the nation's tattered basketball reputation.

Boozer was a member of the team that was labeled selfish and arrogant while earning only a bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Games, along with Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and James - though Wade seemed to forget about him while discussing how "the three of us" talked about earning redemption in Beijing.

"We was at America's lowest point in '04," Anthony said, "and to be sitting here ... on top of the world, I think we did a hell of a job putting American basketball where it's supposed to be, which is at the top of the world."

It wasn't easy taking those last few steps, though.

The Americans had beaten Spain by 37 points in preliminary group play while roaring through the tournament undefeated, and were widely considered heavy favorites.

But the Spanish did not play along, refusing to fade away again. They stayed tantalizingly close throughout the first half by shooting well - they wound up hitting 51 percent - and avoiding turnovers against a usually rabid American defense.

"Spain was fabulous," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

Three times in the third quarter, Spain cut the lead to four and had the ball. Then finally, in the fourth quarter, with thousands of fans abuzz in anticipation of a momentous finish, they cut it to 91-89 on a three-pointer with 8:13 remaining.

"They were unbelievable," James said. "We had a game plan, and they countered our game plan by making some incredible plays. Every possession counted tonight, for all 40 minutes. You couldn't take one possession off, one second off."

Rudy Fernandez scored 22 points and Pau Gasol added 21 for Spain, as it played without injured point guard Jose Calderon - former Jazz guard Raul Lopez filled in briefly - and could not climb any closer down the stretch.

After a timeout, guard Kobe Bryant hit a runner, Williams buried a three from the corner, and the Americans raced off on a 12-2 run that all but decided the game. Spain fought back to within four one last time, but Wade responded to Carlos Jimenez's three-pointer with one of his own - and a dramatic pose to celebrate his team-high 27th point - to push the margin to 111-104 and finish it.

From there, it was all fouls and free throws.

"What you saw today was a team," Bryant said. "Everybody wants to talk about NBA players being selfish, being arrogant, being individuals. But what you saw today was a team, a team buying together and facing adversity and coming out of here with a big win."

The managing director of USA Basketball, Jerry Colangelo, said "five or six" of the younger players on the team already have volunteered to return, a group that presumably includes Williams, who scored seven points in 16 minutes.

For Boozer, the victory represented perhaps a final international achievement. The all-star forward seldom played in the tournament, and was on the floor for only the final 26 seconds against Spain.

"We've had one goal in mind for four years and we accomplished it," he said. "For us, we're so proud to be Americans it's hard to put into words. It's so exciting for us. We want to come back and defend this gold but right now we're celebrating. I feel so honored to be a part of this team. We're going to be smiling for a long time."