LAS VEGAS —
It was a peculiar time for David Stern to open such a dialogue, but the time and place signified his seriousness.
This might be it for the Dream Team concept in the Olympics.
The NBA Finals were 45 minutes from tip-off last month when the league commissioner said it himself — cognizant that NBA owners fretted every four years about players being injured with the extra month of activity . . . that the players themselves began to question whether they should be paid to play for Team USA . . . and, finally, that the NBA wasn’t making an abundance of money by lending its assets to the national cause of thumping (take your pick) Angola, Tunisia, etc.
In other words, enjoy the London Olympics. Who knows if such a collection of basketball players will ever suit up for the Games again?
“I think we got a lot out of the Olympics,” Stern said ominously last month. “We helped grow the game. The result has been extraordinary. But I think it’s appropriate to step back and take stock of where we’re going.”
Then he did something completely wild. He sided with longtime sparring partner Mark Cuban, a sign that a basketball apocalypse was beginning . . . and NBA participation in the Olympics could be ending.
Cuban, after all, had said the league’s quadrennial gift to the Olympics was “the biggest mistake the NBA makes.”
“If you look up ‘stupid’ in the dictionary, you see a picture of the USA Dream Team playing for free for corporate America so the U.S. Olympic Committee can make billions of dollars,” Cuban told reporters in April. “And it has nothing to do with patriotism and it’s all about money. You don’t see the (International) Olympic Committee in Switzerland saying, ‘Oh, we made so much money, let’s give it to people.’ How many jets do they have?”
The Dream Team launched in legendary fashion in 1992 in Barcelona with Magic, Michael and Larry. Stern said the NBA was televised in 80 countries back then. It is now shown in 215. There were only a handful of international players in the NBA 20 years ago. Now there are 80.
Stern hopes to make the Olympics a 23-and-under event, basically retuning it to the college kids and NBA players with only a few years of pro experience.
Then the NBA plans to create a World Cup of Basketball, akin to the one in soccer, two years after every Olympics, with no age limit and plenty of ways to maximize financial gain for the league.
If the Dream Team concept ends this year in London, it will have a similarly stacked roster, with stars from the newer generation: Kobe, LeBron and Kevin Durant.
But USA Basketball, which selects the U.S. Olympic team every four years, isn’t quite ready to roll over.
“I don’t want to change anything, because I like what we have,” USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo said Sunday. “We take care of our players and I think we do the right things.
“You need a lot of things to fall into place in order for all of this (age restriction) to happen. You need the cooperation and the votes and support of a lot of people. So when I hear something like this, I say it may happen. The real question is when. Is it ‘16, is it 2020? Don’t know at this point. It’s a long way from the finish line.”
One prominent U.S. player says he likes the Olympics the way they are now.
“I hope it continues to go that way, because it’s good for the game,” Bryant said. “You put your best players in that stage and you want to see the best players go against each other. That’s what it’s all about.”
Bryant shrugged off the vision of hand-wringing NBA owners who invested millions upon millions in the players on the court in an Olympic game. The combined NBA salaries of the 12 Team USA players is $185 million next season.
“I think that’s the wrong way to look at things,” Bryant said Sunday, halfway through Team USA’s training camp. “If I’m an owner, I would want my player to play (internationally) because I understand that they’re going to be playing anyway, going to be playing pickup basketball in the summertime, and I’m not going to be able to know where they are. They could be playing against a bunch of bums — no, really — guys that feel like they have something to prove and all of a sudden, a (star player) goes to the rim and a guy takes them out and now he’s hurt.
“Here you’re playing against the best guys, you have treatment around the clock, your (NBA) coaching staff can always come sit in the stands and view practice. To me, playing on an Olympic basketball team is actually better if you’re an owner.”
Maybe Colangelo and Bryant will get their way. USA Basketball and the U.S. Olympic Committee are powerful entities.
But so is the NBA.
To be continued after the London Olympics, perhaps the last one ever for a U.S. Dream Team.
Sports
The Dream may be over soon for the NBA-Olympic partnership
- Sports
-
-
Bronchos hit final match play spot in first round
Dillon Rust got off to a blazing start and ended up shooting a one-under-par 70 to lead Central Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships in Hershey, Pa. Tuesday.
Rust birdied four of his first five holes en route to his under-par round and the Bronchos ended up with a 300 on the day, giving them a 36-hole total of 597. The 300 leaves UCO eighth in the 20-team field heading into final round of stroke play, with the top eight teams advancing to match play that will determine the national champion. -
Area players earn All-State honors on the diamond
Three area baseball players were selected to the All-State Team this week.
Right-handed pitcher Holden Lyons from Edmond North, made the team after posting a perfect 7-0 mark with a 1.65 earned run average.
Deer Creek’s Cole Lindley made it as an outfielder and Oklahoma Christian’s Austin Brooks landed on the list in the designated hitter’s spot.
The threesome will compete on the Large West squad on July 30 at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. -
Tennis camps offered in Edmond
Edmond Raquet Club is offering a pair of tennis camps beginning May 28.
For ages 5-8, a camp is offered from 8:45-9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and for ages 7-15 a tennis camp is available from 6-6:55 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Both camps run from May 28-June 13 and cost is $99 per camp.
A camp session for ages 8-16 will run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:30-9:25 a.m. May 29-June 12 for the identical cost.
For more information concerning these camps and others, call 341-4241. -
UCO winds up 10th nationally
Taylor Neidy fired a final-round 75, but Central Oklahoma failed to move up in the team standings at the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. Saturday.
The Bronchos closed with a 323 — making 11 double bogeys and three triples — and finished 10th in the four-day, 72-hole tournament with a 1,298 total on the 6,228-yard, par-72 Arthur Hills Legends Course at LPGA International.
Lynn ended Nova Southeastern’s four-year reign as national championships, finishing with a 1,187 total to edge the Sharks by three strokes. -
Central Oklahoma softballers make World Series again
Hayley Hudson gave Central Oklahoma a 5-4 lead with a run-scoring single in the fifth inning and the No. 19-ranked Bronchos staved off a seventh-inning Winona State threat to capture the NCAA Division II Central Super Regional championship Saturday afternoon at Edmond North High School.
The Warriors put two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the seventh in a bid to pull out a late win and force a deciding game in the best-of-three series, but left fielder Devyn Frazier made a running catch in foul territory for the final out to set off a wild celebration on the field.
UCO improved to 47-11 — a school-record for wins — with its 23th consecutive home victory and advanced to the Division II World Series for the second straight year. The Bronchos will face Armstrong Atlantic in the eight-team World Series at 11 a.m. Thursday in Salem, Va.
“I’d say that was a nail-biter,” head coach Genny Stidham said. “It was a good game, both teams played well. Winona has a great team and they didn’t give up, but we came up with some big plays and came out on top. -
Central Oklahoma golf coach picks up award
Central Oklahoma’s Michael Bond has been named the NCAA Division II Central Region Coach of the Year by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association, with Aly Seng and Erica Bensch both earning All-Central Region honors.
Bond led the Bronchos to perhaps the best season in school history in 2012-13 with top-five finishes in 10 of their 12 tournaments. UCO won three titles, including the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association crown and its first-ever regional championship, and finished 10th in the Division II national tournament. -
Workman's blast cranks UCO's engine; Bronchos cruise to 5-2 win
Nicole Workman’s solo home run gave Central Oklahoma a lead it would never relinquish and the No. 19-ranked Bronchos went on to topple Winona State 5-2 in the first game of the NCAA Division II Central Super Regional Friday night at the Edmond North High School Softball Complex.
Workman blasted her 14th homer of the season to lead off the second inning, with UCO adding three runs in the third and one more in the fifth to take a commanding 5-0 lead before the Warriors created some anxious moments in their final at bat.
WSU scored two runs and had runners on second and third on with just one out in the top of the seventh, but Kalynn Shrock got the final two batters to close out her fourth straight complete-game outing of the postseason and put the Bronchos in control of the best-of-three series. -
Richters rip competition at KickingBird
The KickingBird 2-man scramble was won by Jeff and Josh Richter, finishing with a 57.9 on May 11.
Jeff Jester and Kevin Wright wrapped up second-place honors with a 59.9 and Rick Morales and Ronnie Roberts placed third (60.1).
In the second flight, the top score was 60.4 by Jerry Bernhardt and Ted Carter. Picking up silver was the tandem of Jerry Fuller and Ramona Jacobi (61.2) and the third-place squad was Dyke Hoppe and Mark VanSickle at 62.0.
Morales was closest to the pin on No. 6 and Jeff Richter landed a dart on hole 14. -
Eagles' season finished; Lopez earns national honor
Southeastern, Fla. eliminated Oklahoma Christian 4-0 om the National Christian College Athletic Association World Series in Mason, Ohio today to advance to the tournament semifinals, while OC closes at 26-26.
OC would have advanced to the semifinals with a win, but completed a terrific turnaround from an 8-34 season in 2012. The Eagles made only the second national-tournament appearance in the program's history, with the other coming in 1972, when OC finished third in the NAIA World Series. -
Multiple baseball camps offered in Edmond
Edmond Schools baseball coaches Kyle Roberts (Edmond Memorial), Jeff Shafer (Edmond Santa Fe) and Karl King (Edmond North) will instruct the Edmond All-Star Baseball Camps starting May 28 at Edmond North High School.
A pair of all-skills camps will take place for kids ages 5 and older from May 28-31 and June 3-6. Times are the same, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
On June 7, a pitcher/catcher camp will be offered for ages 8 and older with the identical time frame. Cost is $35 for the pitcher/catcher camp and $125 for the all-skills camp.
For further inquiries, contact Karl King at 863-3570. - More Sports Headlines
-
Bronchos hit final match play spot in first round
