Becky Hammon- traitor to USA Basketball team?

[snaquille oatmeal]

Whether or not the U.S. Team wins gold, silver, bronze or nada, it doesn't affect our lives in the slightest. Olympic sports is just for fun and countries get bragging rights but that's it. If LeBron wins a gold medal it doesn't make me any richer or poorer. It doesn't pay my bills. This is all entertainment for everybody but the people actually competing. For them, it's business and work. But for the rest of us, it's just fun and games. To try to make somebody into a villain just because they're deemed "unpatriotic" by playing a game is just wrong. This is basketball, not the military. Hammon is playing a sport for the Russians, not selling them secret government plans.

Now, I don't know if this sentiment is held by all of the US and maybe I'm reading this wrong. But back home (Puerto Rico) national teams mean a lot. Fans take a lot of pride on the teams probably more so than any professional team. The day after Puerto Rico beat US in 04 for example it was euphoria through out the island. And even on a similar storyline, the basketball federation actually wanted to naturalize a foreign center because our team right now lacks height but the public was so outraged that they had to back down. Then again, in this case they were trying to bring people that had never set foot in Puerto Rico and make them part of the team which is a lot worse than the Hammond case.

So long story short, people care about these teams. After all they're wearing the name of your country across their chest, in essence representing you. That's gotta count for something.

Wait a second, they're not really representing me. They're representing pro basketball players who make millions of dollars a year. Kobe Bryant doesn't represent the average American. The average American doesn't make $100+ million dollars from the Lakers plus endorsements. The U.S. Olympic team represents the NBA more than they represent me. If they wanted to represent me, they'd have the average guy, 5'8" working in an office 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. When it's all said and done, basketball is basketball. Basketball is a sport. Sports = entertainment. I treat the Olympics like an All-star game with higher stakes.

The country that wins the gold medal gets the right to say "we have the best basketball team in the world." That's awesome but in the greater scheme of things, not really that important. I can't fault somebody like Hammon for making millions of dollars by having fun. To a lesser extent, I can't fault Kaman either. He wants to experience international basketball and keep in basketball shape.

Do I want the U.S. to win? Of course, I'm a U.S. citizen but it's not the end of world if they don't. And you shouldn't defame somebody and call them a traitor when it's only entertainment.

the fact of the matter is that the Olympics are more than just games, just like the soccer World Cup. there is a great deal of national pride and patriotism involved in this 2 forums of competition. if you beleive otherwise then you just simply don't understand what the Olympics and the World Cup are all about. they are what they are and it is on this basis that Becky and others don't get a pass from me.

I rest my case.

[GuyverX]

the fact of the matter is that the Olympics are more than just games, just like the soccer World Cup. there is a great deal of national pride and patriotism involved in this 2 forums of competition. if you beleive otherwise then you just simply don't understand what the Olympics and the World Cup are all about. they are what they are and it is on this basis that Becky and others don't get a pass from me.

That is not fact, that's only your opinion. The Olympics don't change anything about ordinary people's lives other than their own personal entertainment unless there is gambling involved. Now that is fact. Win, lose or draw, the world will still be the same place after it's all over in Beijing. It's only entertainment. You can't be considered a traitor or a villain for playing a game, plain and simple. Hammon has done nothing wrong. The only problem is that it makes her look badly because she's been defamed by Donnovan. It's only a game no matter how you spin it and Donnovan should be the one ashamed--not Hammon. Hammon wanted to play for the U.S. first, they snubbed her and so now she plays for the other country she's a legal citizen of. There's really no problem there other than the fact that the U.S. Women's basketball team is being run by idiots.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

It's not like I care much about what she'll do this summer, but I think they should implement FIFA like rules for all competitions: once you represent one country, at any level, you can't represent another one.
I understand the girl already played for Team USA, if that's the case she shouldn't be allowed to play in the Olympics.

This is nothing against her, it's against the current rules that make the competition less interesting. Double citizenship in sports shouldn't be that easy to get, otherwise the whole representing a country means nothing.

[asdfgh]

They do have such rules but FIBA made an exception for Olajuwon in 1996 (he had played for Nigeria when he was young and then wanted to play in the Olympics with the US, so FIBA made a new rule where a player can play for a second NT but only at the Olympics).

[OhMyBosh]

The Olympics are becoming less and less about celebrating world-class athletes. I've been debating with a lot of my coaches in the past and we all agree that the number one agenda is political power.

It's a way for the government to display their dominance over another country. Why do you think some countries (eg. US) spend so much money on practice facilities and athletic programs while others (eg. Canada) don't? Canada isn't up there in terms of political dominance in the world and their government couldn't care less. America spends billions to showcase their talent and how much "better" they are compared to the best athletes of other countries.

[asdfgh]

Did you only realize that now Ohmybosh? Did you think it was a coincidence that the United States and China (and in the past the USSR) do anything they can to win the most medals? Or that after the 2004 Olympics there were articles about how the EU won the most gold medals?

Anyway, it's still a big deal for the athletes and if they want to participate and their own country won't give them the chance, then I don't see anything wrong with playing for another country as long as they get the citizenship via legal means.

[eatyourchildren]

Since I'm against the idea that the Olympic games are just an acceptable proxy of international warfare....I'm all for the mixing of ethnicities/nationalities.

I think it's dumb when nations say "well we beat you in swimming, so that means we're the better country!" Like...really??

[vwc228]

What is interesting about the Olympics is that athletes tend to be the least political about it while power structures tend to want to politicize it. Yes, i know there have been instances where athletes made some political statements there, but by in large, I think if you ask any athlete whether she/he thinks his country should boycott the Olympics to protest China's human rights violations, I think the overwhelming majority would say "NO WAY."

These guys practice their assess off to be able to show that they are the best in the world, but its the governments that usually step in and force them to be political (for some of the reasons mentioned above). That's why I think Becky's decision makes sense for her; she wanted to compete against the best in the world and since her own country (unjustly) robbed her of that opportunity, she found another place where she can achieve her dream.

[OhMyBosh]

Did you only realize that now Ohmybosh? Did you think it was a coincidence that the United States and China (and in the past the USSR) do anything they can to win the most medals? Or that after the 2004 Olympics there were articles about how the EU won the most gold medals?

Anyway, it's still a big deal for the athletes and if they want to participate and their own country won't give them the chance, then I don't see anything wrong with playing for another country as long as they get the citizenship via legal means.

Exactly. Athletes are born to compete. They love their sport which makes them train as hard as they do. They couldn't care less about the political garbage. All they want to do is show their talents at a largest stage. It's not like Becky accepted an invitation for a random country either. I can't believe so many people would make such a big deal out of it.

[Klinky]

She's got dual citizenship & one team wanted her the other didn't. I don't see where the controversy is other than the coach being unprofessional and immature. There is national pride and there is patriotism. Patriotism is starting to seem like it means going along the train of thought that your country is the best and does no wrong, which is a head in the sand approach & leads to pissing matches over stupid things like ribbons, pins or what basketball team an athlete plays on...

Putin(*cough*, I mean Dmitry AKA Putin #2) & Bush are great bedfellows together, they are both extremely corrupt and look to oppress the country they supposedly represent.

[Troubadour]

I've missed out on this debate, but I can tell you one thing: Becky Hammon is a baller. I watched her play the DC team tdoay, and she was dominating. Plus, she's one of the hotter WNBA players.

[Teddy KGB]

Many of the answers in this thread dismay me, and say a lot of really negative things about the state of patriotism in this country. IMO, some posters here don't deserve the freedoms they enjoy here because they exhibit -zero- sense of gratitude toward the USA by excusing what this selfish woman has done.

I agree with the coach. SHE IS A TRAITOR. It's disgusting that anyone would put their personal ambitions above patriotism toward a country that has given them so much.

Absolutely disgusting. If there was any justice, she would have her US citizenship revoked.

How completely intolerant and foolish can a person get? Seriously, it's people with mentalities like yours who become terrorists, i.e. jingoistic idiots.

The USA has given her so much has it? Sure hasn't given her the chance to wear the Red, White and Blue which is her dream. It's given her freedom, sure. But so has Russia and as of right now, so would almost every country in the world. As of now, she is as much Russian as she is American with her dual citizenship and I think that for racially intolerant people like you and Donovan to call her a traitor for it is very anachronistic. I bet you think that anyone who buys Russian vodka should have their US citizenship revoked as well eh? Because, y'know, they're contributing to the economy of another country instead of America's?

Time for you to follow the ideologies of today, not 50 years ago.

[Schad]

Interesting that you bring up the World Cup, in light of the rosters for Euro 2008. Here's a recent Slate article by Anne Applebaum:

http://www.slate.com/id/2194522/

Code: Select all

Myself, I was rooting for Spain in the finals. The Spanish economy is in the doldrums at the moment, and I thought it might cheer up the Spaniards if they won—which it did, judging by the all-night street party that followed the victory. My son, however, was rooting for Germany. This, paradoxically, is because he is half-Polish, and two of the German players are actually Poles, born in Poland, who speak Polish to  each other on the field. One of them—Lukas Podolski—scored both of the goals during the Poland-Germany game three weeks ago. Germany won that match, 2-0.

But then, that was fairly typical of this year's European championships, in the sport Americans call soccer and the rest of the world calls football (or futbol, or futebol, or pilka nozna, and so on). True, this year's tournament proceeded more or less as usual, and all the nationalistic rituals were fully observed. Everybody dressed in their national colors, painted their faces, sang their national anthems, and chanted their chants[...] Most European countries don't have a Fourth of July, and most Europeans don't have flag poles in front of their houses, so soccer tournaments are really the only chance they have to scream their national anthems and chant their national chants without being thought fascist.

Thus, Poland's single tournament goal was scored by Roger Guerreiro, born in Brazil. One of the Austrian stars was Ivica Vastic, a Croat. The Turkish team had five foreign-born players, Portugal had five, and Croatia and France had seven each. Even the coaches, nowadays, are foreigners. Both Poland and Russia have Dutch coaches—though the former is now in the doghouse while the latter became a national hero when Russia's team, against improbable odds, made it to the semifinals. Apparently there are now calls to make him an honorary Russian citizen.

The Europeans take the sport very, very seriously, much more seriously than any of us regard women's international basketball. Despite this, the composition of national teams is hardly homogeneous...heck, after Podolski knocked Poland out of the tournament, I read another article (which I can't find) discussing the fact that many Poles immediately rallied behind Podolski and the German team, because the next best thing to a Polish victory was a victory that included their favourite son.

[Chubby Chaser]

Hammon is both a traitor and a sell out..... She better be prepared of the repercussions to follow if Russia eliminates USA in the tournament.

[D.Brasco]

Some of u seem to be taking this too lightly. would u all have the same laid back reaction if she chose to play for al-quaida on their female olympic basketball team?

[GuyverX]

Some of u seem to be taking this too lightly. would u all have the same laid back reaction if she chose to play for al-quaida on their female olympic basketball team?

Al-qaida has a women's basketball team?

[vwc228]

Some of u seem to be taking this too lightly. would u all have the same laid back reaction if she chose to play for al-quaida on their female olympic basketball team?

Are you actually comparing a sovereign nation to a terrorist organization?!?!? WOW!!!!

[GuyverX]

Forget about the terrorism part...can you imagine what their uniforms would be like? Must get hot under there...

[vwc228]

lol. I figure they would actually be pretty damn good. They would confuse their opponenets on the defensive end. Nobody's gonna who their supposed to be covering.

[Realm_G]

Hammon is both a traitor and a sell out..... She better be prepared of the repercussions to follow if Russia eliminates USA in the tournament.

Yes, she will be stoned to death as soon as she come back.