USA Basketball can limit its team to players under the age of 23, as NBA
Commissioner David Stern recently proposed, but do not expect the rest
of the world to follow suit any time soon. FIBA Secretary General
Patrick Baumann said that he will meet with Stern about the idea to get
more details before bringing it to FIBA’s 200-plus members for approval.
“When, whether, what age -- I’m not sure they have a clear mind on
that,” Baumann said. “USA Basketball may make up its own mind about
whether they want to come with youngsters here. That could be their
choice. There is going to be a lot of debate. ... Every idea is
welcome.” The 23-year-old age limit that Stern proposed has become the
most-discussed, off-court issue during the Olympics. Baumann said that
creating an age limit would hurt countries like Nigeria, which is still
developing the game. He added that FIBA would not make a decision on the
subject any time soon. The subject likely will become one of several
issues the NBA and FIBA work through in the coming years. Baumann said
FIBA is unhappy with the lack of int'l basketball exhibitions
and qualifiers that are played each year. He would prefer a similar
system to soccer, which sets aside a few weekends of every year for
players to leave their professional clubs and play in national team
games. “I don’t think there have been official games of USA Basketball
in the United States qualifying for somewhere,” said Baumann, who is
from Switzerland and also is a member of the IOC. “I don’t remember
since 1993, the German fans haven’t seen the German national team
playing in Germany. Our members have an issue with that” (Tripp Mickle, SportsBusiness Journal).
