For those of you who say that playing in the Olympics is not important . . .

[smeagol]

2nd Tier NBA players would play in Europe but the Superstars will never go play in Europe because it's not compe ive enough. If you want to be the best, you must play against the best.

Euro basketball is still no match for the NBA. If you take the Euroleague championship CSKA Moscow against the Clippers, the Clippers would probably win.

The only way you get compe ors like Kobe, LeBron, Duncan to play on a Europe team is if they're 40 years old. Guys like Josh Childress who are above average scrubs like Europe because of the money...they don't care as much about being the best.

You miss the ing point (as many others before you).

Simply imagine a scenario where the best NBA players go to play to Europe. And the European clubs won't allow them to play in the Olympics.

[smeagol]

I say let US college kids play. The other teams might have a chance again.

Nah . . . other countries' NT teams can beat the US if the US does not bring their best players (see 2002 through 2006).

Try again.

[smeagol]

I'd say good because the Olympics are corrupt.

Yes I know. Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt probably take performance enhancing drugs.

[Allanon]

You miss the ing point (as many others before you).

Simply imagine a scenario where the best NBA players go to play to Europe. And the European clubs won't allow them to play in the Olympics.

An impossible point? Why not trade Bonner for LeBron too while you are at it?

[jmard5]

the reason they have not won the gold is because they pick the wrong players

if they picked the spurs they would win the gold every year

I doubt the Spurs would win the Olympics without Parker, Ginobili and Oberto.

[smeagol]

An impossible point? Why not trade Bonner for LeBron too while you are at it?

Yes, it is an impossible scenario for US fans. I know. It will never happen.

But just try to make an effort . . . ya know the saying "put yourself in other people's shoes" . . . use your imagination.

Once you mind grasps the idea, and I'm confident you can do it, then you will realize how Argentine fans feel (and fans from countries feel) when US fans say Manu, or Z, Nocioni, or Parker, or Dirk, etc, etc should not play for their NT.

[smeagol]

I doubt the Spurs would win the Olympics without Parker, Ginobili and Oberto.

Don't bother. He is mentally challenged.

[mrspurs]

I say you've got a bunch of scrubs on your list compared to the NBA. The Olympics are a joke, the refs. in all of the sports cheat. Its just a big event that the world can watch. Except for the athletes and their close familys, all we care about is a USA win. As a Spurs Fan only when it comes to Professional Basketball. The Olympics is not important as the San Antonio Spurs. Never has been, never will be.

[texbound]

Really, you know this for a fact? How much do you think you'd have to pay Kobe or LeBron to go to Europe? How much would Duncan sell himself for?

well, Kobe hs already stated he'd strongly consider playing in Europe for $50 million a season. Scratch that, he would leave the NBA for that money...

After hearing about King James and the offers he may receive to play overseas for the rumored amount of $50 million a year, Bryant said he wouldn't mind playing for an Italian team if offered the same price.

“I’d go. I’d probably go,” said Bryant, during a USA Basketball press conference on Friday morning. “Like Milan or something like that, where I grew up or something like that… Peace out.”

Bryant continued: “Do you know any reasonable person that would turn down 50 (million dollars)?”

[WalterBenitez]

Going to Europe is about money, not about the euroleague; Take this, before 2010 a "star" would be playing in Europe or China.

[pad300]

Yes, it is an impossible scenario for US fans. I know. It will never happen.

But just try to make an effort . . . ya know the saying "put yourself in other people's shoes" . . . use your imagination.

Once you mind grasps the idea, and I'm confident you can do it, then you will realize how Argentine fans feel (and fans from countries feel) when US fans say Manu, or Z, Nocioni, or Parker, or Dirk, etc, etc should not play for their NT.

No, it's YOU who just doesn't get it.
, I'm a Canadian, if the US national team's jet falls out of the sky, I won't cheer, but I'm not gonna shed a lot of tears either.

It's not about healthy player X going to play in the Olympics. It's about a guy who's gimped (which Manu currently is, and definitely was) going to play. You don't see LA fans crying about Pau or Dallas fans crying about Dirk. Both of them were healthy. You see Rockets fans crying about Yao because he's not - he really needs some time off.

The NBA has specifically gone out of it's way to accommodate the international basketball agenda. It has made it against the CBA to put a clause in player contracts prohibiting the player from international compe ion. However, that is not there for the national federations to abuse by damaging the assets that make the NBA the best league on the planet...

You see Spurs fans crying about Manu because he should have been resting and then having surgery earlier, rather than re-stressing it and putting off surgery so late, such that injuries that happened last season impact the upcoming one. A lot of the Argentinean fans apparently expect loyalty to be a one-way street - the team and fans associated should be loyal to the player, while the player can take the millions and do whatever he wants... It doesn't actually work that way...A close analogy to what Gino did this offseason is Shaq's bull when he was with the lakers:

O'Neal could have had surgery on his toe early in the summer (which would have allowed him to return to playing sooner), but he decided to wait and have the surgery performed not long before the Lakers' pre-season training camp began. He said, "I got hurt on company time, so I’ll heal on company time."

He got his ass chewed by everyone for that bit of at ude. I'll give Manu this, at least he had something more important than his summer vacation on his mind when he put off his surgery.

[jay014]

You miss the ing point (as many others before you).

Simply imagine a scenario where the best NBA players go to play to Europe. And the European clubs won't allow them to play in the Olympics.

the Olympics! What if NBA clubs don't allow Europeans or from anywhere else to play in the Olympics what would team Argentina be without the their top 5 playing in the NBA right now.

[spursfan09]

I do not think anybody here thinks the Olympics are not important. Manu was unhealthy when he played and now he was injured to top everything off. We have every right to be a little upset that our star guard will not be playing at the beginning of the season. Why is this even a debate now? What's done is done. manu played already...

[century]

The US dollar takes a massive nosedive, 1 Euro = $1,000................What say you?

You're a blithering idiot. At that point nobody in this country would give a about basketball.

[Obstructed_View]

I'd love it. I'd rather have college kids playing for the olympic team because it means something to them, even if they don't win every time. You forget that the rest of the world ed it up by allowing their pros to play in the olympics. The US only started sending pros to prove a point. Now that the point has been proven, it's time to start sending amateur basketball players again IMO.

Also, if the Spurs didn't stop Manu from going, which they clearly didn't, even to the detriment of their own team, the statement about "not allowing players to play" is completely fallacious.

[ChumpDumper]

Nah . . . other countries' NT teams can beat the US if the US does not bring their best players (see 2002 through 2006).

Try again.

They still aren't bringing all their best players. They are just put in a little more effort this time (see 2008).

Try again.

[ChumpDumper]

You miss the ing point (as many others before you).

Simply imagine a scenario where the best NBA players go to play to Europe. And the European clubs won't allow them to play in the Olympics.

I imagined it.

I just don't care that much.

You do.

Immensely.

We get it.

The entrance of pros in the Olympics was pretty much the final blow to any real interest I had in the games. Now I just see it for the corrupt money grab that it is.

[Manudona]

I'd say good because the Olympics are corrupt.

Sure, unlike the pristine clear NBA.

[urunobili]

smeagol... this may have been a little too over creative... with this case scenario the Argentine basketball league would be more powerful than the NBA....

[Kori Ellis]

Simply imagine a scenario where the best NBA players go to play to Europe. And the European clubs won't allow them to play in the Olympics.

Many/most American NBA fans wouldn't care. Because Americans (generally) don't care that much about the Olympics.

I only watched about 15-20 minutes of Olympic basketball this summer and I LOVE basketball. Like a lot of people here, the Olympics just don't interest me.

[smeagol]

They are just put in a little more effort this time (see 2008).

Try again.

They put a lot more effort.

[smeagol]

No, it's YOU who just doesn't get it.
, I'm a Canadian, if the US national team's jet falls out of the sky, I won't cheer, but I'm not gonna shed a lot of tears either.

It's not about healthy player X going to play in the Olympics. It's about a guy who's gimped (which Manu currently is, and definitely was) going to play. You don't see LA fans crying about Pau or Dallas fans crying about Dirk. Both of them were healthy. You see Rockets fans crying about Yao because he's not - he really needs some time off.

The NBA has specifically gone out of it's way to accommodate the international basketball agenda. It has made it against the CBA to put a clause in player contracts prohibiting the player from international compe ion. However, that is not there for the national federations to abuse by damaging the assets that make the NBA the best league on the planet...

You see Spurs fans crying about Manu because he should have been resting and then having surgery earlier, rather than re-stressing it and putting off surgery so late, such that injuries that happened last season impact the upcoming one. A lot of the Argentinean fans apparently expect loyalty to be a one-way street - the team and fans associated should be loyal to the player, while the player can take the millions and do whatever he wants... It doesn't actually work that way...

You don't get it, moron. This is not about Manu's injury.

[smeagol]

You're a blithering idiot. At that point nobody in this country would give a about basketball.

Please tell me you're not this stupid . . .

[smeagol]

I imagined it.

I just don't care that much.

You don't care that the US never wins a gold medal in Olympic basketball again. Ever.

Ok.

You do.

Immensely.

Is that a sin?

The entrance of pros in the Olympics was pretty much the final blow to any real interest I had in the games. Now I just see it for the corrupt money grab that it is.

I guess it must be because you say so.

[ducks]

Yes I know. Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt probably take performance enhancing drugs.

100 million in endoresments