RIO DE JANEIRO — It sounded like a good idea when the International Olympic Committee voted after the 1988 summer games in Seoul to allow professional basketball players to compete in the Olympic games.
In theory, it was supposed to guarantee better TV rating and increased interest from both viewers and fans, who wanted to watch the best players in the world participate.
But some perspective is needed here. If winning the NBA championship, Wimbledon and the Masters are considered the pinnacle of their sports and a Olympic gold medal ranks down the list, it has led to many of the best athletes in their fields bailing out on what was once considered hallowed ground by world standards.
The United States has never had the same fervent nationalism in the revenue producing sports we see in other countries like Brazil, where participating on the national team trumps everything else. Nene Halario and Leandro Barbosa both play in the NBA along with three others on the national team, but the biggest name in Brazilian basketball will always be Oscar Schmidt, a 6-8 forward who is the all time leader in professional points with over 49,000 points and is a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame. Schmidt, ironically, never got a chance to play in the NBA after he was drafted by the Nets in sixth round of the 1984 NBA draft because league rules at the time banned its players from international competition.
Schmidt spurned the idea of moving to the States later in his career and played abroad until he was 45-years old.
He is not shy about telling the world how good he was. “I would be Top 10. Ever,” he told Michael Lee of the Vertical. “For sure. One guy can’t defend me. You need two. At least.”
That became obvious one summer day in Indianapolis when Schmidt threw down 46 points as Brazil defeated a group of U.S. college kids coached by Denny Crum of Louisville in the gold medal game of the Pan American Games, back when that event still meant something. His performance must come as a surprise to Crum, who insisted prior to the game that he and his staff didn’t scout international opponents.
To this day, whenever Oscar enters a basketball arena in Brazil, he receives a standing ovation.
The United States has built a dynasty of sorts in Olympic competition, winning every tournament until 1972, then winning in 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008 and 2012. But after 1964, the best amateur players began bailing out for political reasons. Kareem Abdul- Jabbar, Elvin Hayes, Calvin Murphy all took a pass in the 1968 games at the urging of activist Harry Edwards during the height of the Civil Rights movement struggles. Bill Walton took a pass in 1972 after voicing his objection to the Viet Nam war.
The same thing is happening now that NBA players are representing this country. The 1992 Dream Team was considered the greatest collection of players ever assembled. The 1996 team wasn’t far behind. But, by 2004, the team wound up being put together with bailing wire after Shaquille O’Neal, Jermaine O’Neal and Ben Wallace all cited fatigue; Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter and Ray Allen were getting marries; Kobe Bryant’s trial for sexual assault was set to begin in the fall; Jason Kidd, Karl Malone and Elton Brand were injured and Mike Bibby and Tracy McGrady cited security problems in Athens.
U.S. National team coach Larry Brown was left with two Hall of Fame players– Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson– and a bunch of fill ins and NBA rookies LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade who Brown chose not to play. The result was a disappointing bronze medal.
Duke’s Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski has always preached patriotism and selflish service since he took over as Team USA’s coach in 2005. He has established a success program, winning two Olympic golds in 2008 and 2012 and two World Championships in 2010 and 2014. But his message doesn’t always get through.
Team USA went through a crisis this spring when All Star forward three time Olympian LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, arguably the best player on the planet; and guard Stephen Curry of the Warriors, the best pure shooter in the world, both took a pass. James was exhausted after a super human performance in the NBA finals. Curry was nursing a knee injuries. Other luminaries to take a pass included guard Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Damien Lillard, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, leaving managing director Jerry Colangelo and US senior manager Sean Ford to scramble, looking for replacements for Krzyzewski’s final Olympic team.
The group they assembled is still good enough to win a gold medal.
But Team USA hasn’t always passed the eye test. Team USA only has two players– forward Kevin Durant and veteran forward Carmelo Anthony– in addition to four players– guards Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson and Demar DeRozen and center DeMarcus Cousins– who got playing time on the 2014 gold medal World Championship team.
To be fair, the Americans are 5-0 after pool play. But we got a distorted view of how good they are during the exhibition tour and many of their defensive flaws have been exposed by experienced international teams like Australia, Serbia and France, all who have at least players who played or are playing in the NBA. None of those countries seem phased by the fact the Americans have the 6-10 versatile Durant, who is arguably the best player here; 12 NBA players and nine All Stars in the 2016 game.
By contrast, center Pau Gasol of Spain and forward Al Horford of the Dominican Republic were the only two internationals in Toronto. But countries like Australia, Serbia and France have offset the American’s huge talent pool by using their continuity and skill to challenge the Americans, creating some late game suspense as long as they keep scoring easily and savaging American centers DeMarcus Cousins and De Andre Jordan at the rim.
“Defensively is where we have to man up,” U.S. outspoken swing guard Paul George said. “In our game, there’s movement obviously. With these guys, it’s constant movement. We talked about it in the back. You never sit still. In our game, there are moments when you sit still. You can have a rest period. You might get action that guys just run on one side. You’re constant moving from side to side. They don’t get tired.”
So far, Krzyewski has only made one change in the starting lineup, inserting big guard Paul George of the Indiana Pacers for a slump-ridden Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors in an attempt to upgrade his defense. The experiment didn’t work and Coach K went back to Thompson against France Sunday in the final game of pool play. Thompson splashed home 30 points in a 100-97 victory. There is now some speculation Team USA should consider going to a smaller lineup with 6-8 Draymond Green from the Warriors– who has only played 55 minutes in this tournament– in the middle in an effort to spread the floor and run more often and give Team USA’s one on one scorers more room to perform but that seems radical for a team that is capable of scoring 100 plus points.
It is hard to say what the best course of action is now for this team that was put together so quickly, but Team USA needs to figure it out quickly after giving up 88, 91 and 97 points the last three games. .
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