GSH
06-06-2009, 05:32 AM
I have read countless posts about NBA players competing in international ball during the summer. Obviously most of the discussion was about whether Manu and Tony should have played last summer, and whether Tony should be playing this summer. There has been a common theme among international fans that Americans get angry when international players want represent their countries - but they have nothing bad to say about American players playing for Team US in the Olympics and World Championships. Many of them also say that if American players refused to represent the U.S. in international competition, we would call them cowards, or worse.
I've grown sick of that particular line of BS, and so I decided to take some time to put together a brief history of American NBA players in international competition. First, I will say that one major difference is that the American players are not competing every single summer, year after year. Another major difference is that when our players have been injured, they have routinelyp dropped out of summer play so that they could rest and recuperate.
I'm not sure that many international fans will take the time to look at it with an open mind. But if you do, there are several things you will notice:
1. Most of our players have competed only once, and a small number twice.
2. Many of our players have declined to play, without being ostracized by American fans. Some expressed that they needed rest after a long NBA season.
3. Many American players have committed to play for our national team, but dropped out due to injuries that were much less substantial than Manu's.
1992 - Until the 1992 Olympics, our international teams were all amateurs. So there hasn't been a question of NBA players in summer ball for all that long. Of the 12 players on the 1992 roster, 6 never played for a U.S. team again, and 1 (Christian Laettner) was an amateur.
1994 - None of the players on the 1994 Worlds roster were part of the 1992 Olympic team.
1996 - The 1996 Olympic team included 5 players who had never played on a U.S. team before, 2 players who competed on the 1994 Worlds team, and 5 players had been on the 1992 Olympic team, four years earlier.
1998 - The 1998 Worlds team had no NBA players on the roster.
2000 - The 2000 Olympics roster was made up of players who had never played for a U.S. international team before. About half of them were second-tier NBA players, because many of the superstars who were selected declined to play. Among others, Grant Hill was selected but dropped out due to an ankle injury.
2002 - Most of the NBA superstar players who were invited to play in the 2002 Worlds declined (including Kobe Bryant, Shaquille Oneal, and Kevin Garnett). Ray Allen and Jason Kidd initially accepted, but dropped out due to injuries.
2004 - For the 2004 Olympics, a number of top-tier NBA players agreed to play. But in order to compete in the Olympics, they were forced to play in the 2003 FIBA Americas Championship. As a result, 10 of the 12 original players dropped off the team, rather than play international ball two summers in a row. (Only Duncan and Iverson remained from the 2003 team.)
2006 - In 2006, Jerry Colangelo asked for a 3 year commitment from the players, which would include the 2006 Worlds and the 2008 Olympics. Kobe Bryant accepted but didn't play in the 06 Worlds due to a knee injury. The roster for the 2006 Worlds team was mostly made up of young NBA players, and only 3 of the 12 had played for a U.S. team before.
2008 - Even though Colangelo had asked for a 3 year commitment, only 6 of the 12 players from the 2006 Worlds were on the 2008 Olympics team.
I know that some players, like Jason Kidd, competed in two Olympics but also had to compete in a qualifying tournament in an odd-numbered year. But it's clear that even Kidd has not logged anywhere near as much summer mileage as Manu and Tony. I am confident that the American fans would complain just as loudly if their favorite American players were competing every single summer, and it had a negative impact on their NBA teams. Ray Allen, for instance, missed the end of the 2004 season with an ankle injury, then dropped off the Olympic team to rehab. If he had "played through" the pain over the summer, and injured himself worse, the fans in Seattle would have run him out of town on a rail.
Another example is Jason Kidd, who missed the last few games of the 2004 regular season, and limped through their shortened playoffs, due to a bone bruise on his knee. Kidd dropped off the Olympic team that summer, to rest and rehab his kn. The American fans didn't call for his head, even though that is the year that the U.S. team first failed to win the gold medal with professional players. But if Kidd had played that Summer, and hurt his knee worse? I have little doubt that the Nets fans would have crucified him.
And finally, consider LeBron James. He began playing for the U.S. team in the 2004 Olympics, then the 2006 Worlds, and the 2008 Olympics. But what if he had played in the 2003 Fiba Americas qualifying tournament, and also played international ball in 05 and 07? That would be six years of summer basketball in a row. Do you think anyone in Cleveland would be questioning whether his failure to win a championship was due to playing every summer? Of course they would. But do you think anyone would have been terribly upset if he had declined to play in the 2006 Worlds? Nope.
Anyone who follows the NBA knows that one of the keys to the playoffs is having a healthy team. Why? Because playing 82 games in about 180 days is just so damned hard on the body. So if a player is "lucky" enough to play another 20+ playoff games, and still hasn't been injured, doesn't it seem logical that taking a little time off to rest is a good idea? Wouldn't you think that playing in yet another league during the OFF SEASON is pushing luck a little too far? I can't understand why most international fans don't see it that way.
But one thing I can say for certain. We Americans don't gripe about summer basketball because we're biased, and only care about our own country. We would gripe just as much at American players if they played every summer. And if Jason Kidd and Ray Allen need to rest all summer, we don't blame them... even when our Olympic team winds up with a bronze medal. We just want them to come back healthy next October. And if LeBron wants to forgo the Olympics to give himself some rest before a championship run? Well... don't look for any American fans to call him on the carpet for it. And I'm sure we would all extend the same courtesy to Tony and Manu.
I've grown sick of that particular line of BS, and so I decided to take some time to put together a brief history of American NBA players in international competition. First, I will say that one major difference is that the American players are not competing every single summer, year after year. Another major difference is that when our players have been injured, they have routinelyp dropped out of summer play so that they could rest and recuperate.
I'm not sure that many international fans will take the time to look at it with an open mind. But if you do, there are several things you will notice:
1. Most of our players have competed only once, and a small number twice.
2. Many of our players have declined to play, without being ostracized by American fans. Some expressed that they needed rest after a long NBA season.
3. Many American players have committed to play for our national team, but dropped out due to injuries that were much less substantial than Manu's.
1992 - Until the 1992 Olympics, our international teams were all amateurs. So there hasn't been a question of NBA players in summer ball for all that long. Of the 12 players on the 1992 roster, 6 never played for a U.S. team again, and 1 (Christian Laettner) was an amateur.
1994 - None of the players on the 1994 Worlds roster were part of the 1992 Olympic team.
1996 - The 1996 Olympic team included 5 players who had never played on a U.S. team before, 2 players who competed on the 1994 Worlds team, and 5 players had been on the 1992 Olympic team, four years earlier.
1998 - The 1998 Worlds team had no NBA players on the roster.
2000 - The 2000 Olympics roster was made up of players who had never played for a U.S. international team before. About half of them were second-tier NBA players, because many of the superstars who were selected declined to play. Among others, Grant Hill was selected but dropped out due to an ankle injury.
2002 - Most of the NBA superstar players who were invited to play in the 2002 Worlds declined (including Kobe Bryant, Shaquille Oneal, and Kevin Garnett). Ray Allen and Jason Kidd initially accepted, but dropped out due to injuries.
2004 - For the 2004 Olympics, a number of top-tier NBA players agreed to play. But in order to compete in the Olympics, they were forced to play in the 2003 FIBA Americas Championship. As a result, 10 of the 12 original players dropped off the team, rather than play international ball two summers in a row. (Only Duncan and Iverson remained from the 2003 team.)
2006 - In 2006, Jerry Colangelo asked for a 3 year commitment from the players, which would include the 2006 Worlds and the 2008 Olympics. Kobe Bryant accepted but didn't play in the 06 Worlds due to a knee injury. The roster for the 2006 Worlds team was mostly made up of young NBA players, and only 3 of the 12 had played for a U.S. team before.
2008 - Even though Colangelo had asked for a 3 year commitment, only 6 of the 12 players from the 2006 Worlds were on the 2008 Olympics team.
I know that some players, like Jason Kidd, competed in two Olympics but also had to compete in a qualifying tournament in an odd-numbered year. But it's clear that even Kidd has not logged anywhere near as much summer mileage as Manu and Tony. I am confident that the American fans would complain just as loudly if their favorite American players were competing every single summer, and it had a negative impact on their NBA teams. Ray Allen, for instance, missed the end of the 2004 season with an ankle injury, then dropped off the Olympic team to rehab. If he had "played through" the pain over the summer, and injured himself worse, the fans in Seattle would have run him out of town on a rail.
Another example is Jason Kidd, who missed the last few games of the 2004 regular season, and limped through their shortened playoffs, due to a bone bruise on his knee. Kidd dropped off the Olympic team that summer, to rest and rehab his kn. The American fans didn't call for his head, even though that is the year that the U.S. team first failed to win the gold medal with professional players. But if Kidd had played that Summer, and hurt his knee worse? I have little doubt that the Nets fans would have crucified him.
And finally, consider LeBron James. He began playing for the U.S. team in the 2004 Olympics, then the 2006 Worlds, and the 2008 Olympics. But what if he had played in the 2003 Fiba Americas qualifying tournament, and also played international ball in 05 and 07? That would be six years of summer basketball in a row. Do you think anyone in Cleveland would be questioning whether his failure to win a championship was due to playing every summer? Of course they would. But do you think anyone would have been terribly upset if he had declined to play in the 2006 Worlds? Nope.
Anyone who follows the NBA knows that one of the keys to the playoffs is having a healthy team. Why? Because playing 82 games in about 180 days is just so damned hard on the body. So if a player is "lucky" enough to play another 20+ playoff games, and still hasn't been injured, doesn't it seem logical that taking a little time off to rest is a good idea? Wouldn't you think that playing in yet another league during the OFF SEASON is pushing luck a little too far? I can't understand why most international fans don't see it that way.
But one thing I can say for certain. We Americans don't gripe about summer basketball because we're biased, and only care about our own country. We would gripe just as much at American players if they played every summer. And if Jason Kidd and Ray Allen need to rest all summer, we don't blame them... even when our Olympic team winds up with a bronze medal. We just want them to come back healthy next October. And if LeBron wants to forgo the Olympics to give himself some rest before a championship run? Well... don't look for any American fans to call him on the carpet for it. And I'm sure we would all extend the same courtesy to Tony and Manu.