The NBA players' lack of desire for representing their country. It drives me crazy when I read crap like this: Colangelo comments upset James - NBA - Yahoo! Sports We have people giving their lives for their country every day and these spoiled rich schmucks get upset that they are asked to play in a basketball tourney. Not only do they disrespect and belittle the biggest global stage for their craft, they also are dissing their larger fan base. But, most importantly, they are betraying their country. If you really are a patriot, you do EVERYTHING you can to make sure that your country has the BEST chance to win it all. Their attitude just makes me sick.
I disagree Walter. The players get paid a lot of money to play and they are responsible for taking care of themselves. National teams have been bastardized by professional payers anyway...I woud much rather watch top amateurs compete.
i agree with both of you.... i think pro's in the games is a joke, but... at the same time james thinking he can take a summer off then getting an invite to the games is wrong. If he doesn't want to make the commitment to 3 summers then I can respect that, but don't expect to skip all the work and just show up for the games to get your medal.
To be fair, these guys committed the past three summers already. I can understand if they have personal and professional stuff that makes them decide to skip a year. With that said, if others are willing to make more of a commitment than they are, that should be taken into consideration. Maybe James does get to play next Olympics, but he shouldn't get a free pass, and skipping out this summer should count against him. He's probably not used to people telling him that pure talent doesn't give him a free ride on the train of life.
It's my understanding that his contract situation makes him exempt from having to participate. If he doesn't want to play this Summer. all he has to do is hold-off on signing a new deal with [STRIKE]New York[/STRIKE] his new team until after the World Championships. I think this is a case of both Colangelo and LeBron doing a bit of grandstanding. ...Ricky Davis should replace James anyway.
I know basketball is their life, but I agree that if they want to take a summer off and do something else, then they should be allowed to do it without someone holding a prerequisite over their head. There will be other players available to play this summer in Wade and James place who probably would never get the chance otherwise if we rely on the same players. Colangelo should determine in the summer of 2011 who should be playing the Olympic team in 2012, and not make players participate this summer for some event two years from now.
You all make good and valid points. But, I still cannot understand it. In my opinion playing for your country should be the greatest honor and privilege for a player. It should trump everything. These guys are treating it like a chore. Maybe I'm just very old fashioned guy.
It all depends on what was agreed upon beforehand. If the players knew that this type of committment was expected, then they should be there. If not, then there's a whole lot of fussin going on.
to each his own - it's the American way all you have to do is look at the end of zekes premature career to realize these guys need rest. or take a look at c-notes injuries late in each season over the last five years. if you're on a team that continuously plays into late may or june year after year it takes a serious toll on your careers longevity. maybe if you're a rookie or just a couple years in it makes more sense, but if you've already been playing for long time it definetly creates a career liability. i have no problem with guys begging off, especially if they already give 100% during the regular and playoff seasons. personally, i'm not into the whole 'we'll show'em we still own the game' philosphy. sometimes it's just better to chill baby chill...
Sorry man, but I don't think playing for your country should trump anything. You're (not you specifically) a citizen of this country because you were born here. Not because you chose to be, unlike immigrants. Through sheer happenstance, you are an American. If you were born 3000 miles to the left you'd be waving a different color piece of cloth claiming THAT country is the best. I can understand being happy to live in or be a citizen of your country, but honor and privilege? Not so much IMO. It should probably fall in the realm of nice things to do, but should you be obligated? No. Hell, our ARMED FORCES aren't even mandatory, but do we crap all over citizens who choose to go to college instead? No. He's a professional and one of the best players in the professional game. But, all that does is make him a guy with a job he's really good at which some company is willing to pony up a lot of money for him to do that job. He's not being "given" anything, as many people like to suggest. He's worked extremely hard and put in 1000's of hours of sweat equity into being good enough to be paid his salary and as long as 18,000 people are willing to cough up $50+ a ticket to watch him play, he's going to continue to make a lot of money. He's earning what he makes and doesn't "owe" this free country anything. Is it mutually beneficial? Sure. He wins in the way of public admiration, the country wins in having it's absolute best players on the floor in a world [STRIKE]money grab[/STRIKE] competition. But, it really shouldn't be something that people get that upset about, IMHO.
I agree that its understandable if player who is expected to play well in into June would not want to play over the summer. Basically asking them to play year round which has resulted in a lot of injuries over the years since they started this. Olympics is one thing but they seem to have some kind of tournament every summer. Yea, once every 4 years one may be able to suck it up but not every summer. What they could do is select from the pool of players who did not make the post-season. Still a lot of talent and they can start practicing a lot earlier.
No reason LeBron should be forced to play in the Olympics, and no reason that Colangelo needs to use him. If James is too tired, or too busy with his career, I'm sure there are other players that would be willing to do it. I would like to nominate Evan Turner.
We're not talking about forcing LeBron to play in the Olympics. We're talking about LeBron skipping the summers leading up to the Olympics and then jumping into an Olympic roster spot over someone that his committed to USA basketball during the non-Olympic years.
Walter this whole "War thing" is garbage that man must move pass. It's no longer real to me. Those men and women are in a horror time warp where metal rips through their flesh. Only goons understand it. ...Your comparison is legit. But the 82 game season was meant to suck the life and get true value, out of the player. War is asking too much!
Maybe I should rephrase: LeBron has every right to skip the summer games, and Colangelo has every right to choose a player who can make the summer games. I understand that Wade and James have careers to worry about, and I don't have a problem with that. However, Team USA may have more success as a real team, as opposed to a collection of superior talent.
100% with The Low. I believethe brand name trumps, Turkey or no Turkey, London or no London, skip or no skip, the jersey will tell. We don't have to read too much into the revealed dialouge which is for the public and other younger players to hear. As long as he's the most dominated player, Jerry need him in London.
