As talks continue that the NBA would like to see changes in its
participation in the Olympics, Kobe Bryant and several other current
U.S. Olympic team members spoke out on the issue following the team's win
against France Sunday. One idea floated is having only
players 23-and-under participating, and Bryant said, "If we
send 23-year-old guys here to play against these grown men, we'll be in
trouble. And when you look at the Olympics as a whole, it's about
putting your best athletes to the front, to showcase. I don't see why
it's even a topic of discussion" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/30). The AFP’s Jim Slater noted players are “united in wanting the chance to
represent their homelands.” Kevin Durant said of the potential change,
"I wouldn't like that. I would like to go to Barcelona and Brazil. I am
23 so I wouldn't get that chance so hopefully it doesn't change. I would
like to play again." LeBron James said, "The process we have right now
is working and I think it's great. I love being part of the Olympics and
representing my country." But Slater noted with NBA Commissioner David
Stern “pushing for change, USA Basketball has had to listen.” Bryant:
"I'm concerned because I want to see all the young guys be part of this
in the next Games. Players should be the ones to decide whether they
want to take part of the Games or not” (AFP, 7/28).
GLOBAL GOALS CHANGING: In N.Y., Jere Longman
wrote the NBA is “reassessing its involvement in the Olympics with an
eye toward an even bigger and more popular international sporting event:
soccer’s World Cup.” The concerns of the league relate to “player
health, broadening the appeal of the sport, finances and perceived
arrogance of the IOC.” At this point, any
change seems “more likely to occur for the 2020 Summer Games" than for
the ‘16 Rio de Janeiro Games. Longman: “If the NBA does maintain its
current Olympic involvement, it may be for this reason: The players say
they love it. They attract a global audience. They rub shoulders with
top athletes from other sports. They have fun in a festival atmosphere
while playing for a Gold Medal” (N.Y. TIMES, 7/29).
YAHOO SPORTS’ Adrian Wojnarowski wrote this “isn’t about sending young
Americans to the Olympics to play older teams, but the NBA cutting a
deal with FIBA to make the Olympics a completely under-23 tournament.”
For NBA teams, the ability “to control their talent in a rebranded World
Cup of Basketball goes far past benefiting financially in ways that the
IOC will never allow.” The owners are “organized, unified, and
determined to make the World Cup of Basketball the financial boon that
they always believed a European expansion of NBA franchises could be for
them" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/29).
PLAYERS COULD EXERT SOME POWER: YAHOO SPORTS’
Wojnarowski wrote the NBA stars can “complicate the dynamics of a deal
with a unified declaration: Push for an under-23 basketball tournament
in the Olympics, and we won't be representing the U.S. in a new
World Cup tournament.” Tyson Chandler said, “The players definitely
have power, because we're the ones out there playing. If the players
chose not to play because they've taken something away from us, then
obviously we control it.” Wojnarowski noted there is a “reason the
players have been left drifting on the issue, uninformed and unaware of
the NBA’s behind-the-scenes machinations to move a plan with FIBA in
motion” -- NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter “is too weakened and distracted to
engage the issue.” Hunter for months has been “hell-bent on burning
through the NBPA's coffers to bankroll lawyers to try and protect
himself in a joint probe into the union's business practices by the U.S.
Attorney's Office and Department of Labor.” Hunter has “never been less
popular with superstars, and he knows it.” Meanwhile, the push towards a
World Cup style tournament is “understandable, but shortsighted.” A
World Cup of Basketball “won’t come close to matching soccer, because
nationalistic allegiances are far, far more fervent to soccer teams.”
The Olympics “frame NBA stars as global icons in a way nothing else can”
(SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/28).
WORLD CUP A FLAWED IDEA: In Kansas City, Sam Mellinger wrote the plan is “flawed in so many ways it’s hard to know where to start.”
The NBA’s World Cup “would not match soccer’s for a lot of reasons, most
obviously that national pride in basketball is a few hundred years
behind” (K.C. STAR, 7/30).
FOXSPORTS.com’s Jason Whitlock wrote Stern has “run out of ideas on how
to grow the game at home, so he’s floating outlandish concepts aimed
primarily at growing the game abroad.” A World Cup is a bad idea because
the Olympics “is a 100-plus-year brand, a brand stronger globally than
the NFL." The Olympics put “non-basketball eyeballs on Stern’s product,”
while a World Cup “would be for the International Bill Simmons
Society.” Whitlock: “It would be foolish for the NBA to weaken its
relationship with the Olympics” (FOXSPORTS.com, 7/29).
SportsCorp President Marc Ganis said, “The Summer Olympics is the
greatest free advertising the NBA can have, and because of the way NBC
will be highlighting men's basketball, it will be the dominant storyline
of the entire Games, even more than it was four years ago in China. (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 7/29).
STILL UP FOR DISCUSSION: In Newark, N.J., Dave D’Alessandro
wrote the U.S. men’s basketball team is still USA Basketball Chair Jerry
Colangelo’s “baby, and now they’re changing his parenting guidelines on
the fly.” Colangelo said, “I haven’t said much about it, because it’s a
discussion that has yet to take place in the right forum.” He added he
would meet with Stern when he arrives in London, “and it’s going to be
an ongoing discussion.” Colangelo: “But the reality is this: There’s
going to be a (basketball) World Cup in ’14. There’s change in the air
regarding possibly an age limitation for the Olympics, like soccer has.
The question is, what’s that age? Is it 23 or is it 25? My point is,
that’s all negotiable” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 7/28).