By Flint Wheeler
On Monday, the day after the United States’ men’s national basketball team captured the FIBA World Cup with a 129-92 win over Serbia, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports advocated that the NBA should pull its players from future international events.
The World Cup falls “beneath the threshold of worthiness for NBA stars to participate,” wrote Wojnarowski.
Wojnarowski’s argument is basically two-fold. One, NBA players unnecessarily risk physical injury while playing (for free) in international competitions such as the World Cup. And two, NCAA coaches like Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim gain too much in terms of recruiting from their involvement in the U.S. men’s national team.
Wojnarowski bases the first part of his argument on the horrific injury that Indiana Pacers star Paul George suffered during a nationally-televised scrimmage prior to the team’s departure for the World Cup. George sustained a compound fracture in his leg. He expected to miss the entire 2014-15 season.
The chorus of questions about NBA players participating in USA Basketball events began with George’s injury. But it was a freak injury. He was the first player to suffer a major injury in a USA Basketball setting since the NBA players starting playing in international competitions in 1992. In other words, George is the first player hurt since the Dream Team.
“We are so stupid that we are willing to commit what amounts to more than a billion dollars in salaries to help the Olympics line their pockets so we can pretend that the Olympic Games are about national pride,” Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told the New York Times in August.
So it would seem, Cuban (and the NBA) isn’t really against players participating in off-season competitions. What rankles Cuban is that he’s not making money off it. Essentially, Cuban is treating the U.S. Olympic team like he would a contestant on Shark Tank. Devalue it and then buy it.
Wojnarowski also devalues the World Cup, which was previously known as the World Championship. It’s not the Olympics, so no one pays attention, according to Wojnarowski.
In 1998, the United States finished third in the World Championship. In 2000, the United States barely captured the Olympic gold with a two-point win over Lithuania in the championship game.
In 2002, the United States finished sixth in the World Championship. In the 2004 Olympics, the U.S. finished with the bronze medal.
After the 2004 Games, Jerry Colangelo revamped USA Basketball’s approach. He gained a commitment from NBA players. He began to develop the whole program rather than just slapping together an all-star roster every Olympiad.
The United States finished third in the 2006 World Championships, but the turnaround was just underway. The U.S. has won gold in the four major competitions since then.
If the United States wants to go back to winning bronze medals, then go ahead and discard Colangelo’s system.
Wojnarowski’s column also quotes NBA front office types pushing for an age limit on the World Championships.
“We need to get our vets out and move our younger players in,” one NBA general manager told Wojnarowski. “The support’s there for the change, and it’s getting stronger.”
Wojnarowski predicts the World Championships will become a 22-and-under event. That would be a huge mistake. While more and more players are entering the NBA after just one or two years of college, the average NBA player is still developing at the age of 24. Few of that age are ready for the Olympics.
Look at the United States’ roster for the just-completed World Championships. Only three players are 22 or younger. Meanwhile, emerging players such as Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kenneth Faried and DeMarcus Cousins would have been too old if the cut-off was 22. Same with Mason Plumlee, DeMar DeRozan and James Harden.
Finally, Wojnarowski’s column degenerated into a skewering of Krzyzewski. The claim is that Duke and Coach K (also Syracuse and Jim Boeheim) benefit greatly from their exposure as Olympic coaches. And that interviews and photo ops sway the hearts and minds of young recruits.
As if Coach K never recruited a single McDonald’s All-American prior to becoming the head coach of the U.S. Olympic team. How did Duke ever win all those NCAA titles and attract the likes of Christian Laettner, Grant Hill and Elton Brand without access to the Olympic platform? How did Jim Boeheim ever convince Carmelo Anthony to come to Syracuse before becoming Olympic assistant?
It’s fine that Wojnarowski wants to protect NBA players. And it’s understandable that Mark Cuban just wants to get paid. However, you can’t argue that NBA players should be concerned about injuries and then promote an NBA international competition. And you can’t argue that the NBA doesn’t benefit because showcasing the game’s stars on an international stage – even one like the FIBA World Cup – promotes the NBA globally. And if Coach K and Jim Boeheim get a little recruiting boost, then maybe that’s just reward for the hours and hours they’ve spent with USA Basketball in their off-seasons over the past eight years.
As much as I disagree with the Yahoo report as to the reasons ‘why’ an overhaul is needed, watching 30 point blowouts for two weeks does get a little old.
