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FOXSports.com
Apparently just playing for the honor of your country might not be enough for some NBA players.
Sonics guard Ray Allen says USA Basketball should consider paying NBA players to play in the Olympics, according to a report in The Seattle Times.
Allen said that Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo, who was picked to oversee USA Basketball through the 2008 Games in Beijing, should effectively abandon the idea of having tryouts and pay players instead.
"You're dealing with a different animal than the other sports," Allen said. "You've got people who are selling out buildings (venues) and if you want these particular (NBA) players there, how do you get them there?"
With the overload of information (read: videotape) available on most players, asking a star such as Shaquille O'Neal to try out for the Olympic team might simply be a waste of time.
"When we did that when we were in college, you don't really know who can play. You're playing in a system," said Allen, who scored a career playoff-high 45 points Sunday in the Sonics' 115-103 victory over Sacramento in Game 4. "A lot of guys have proven what they can do. You mean to tell me you're going to make Shaq try out? I don't think so."
But Allen insists he isn't suggesting players deserve to be paid for representing their country, it's just that paying them might entice the most talented ones to participate in the '08 Games.
"I'm by no means saying I need to get paid," he said, "but you're talking about some of these young players who are some of the best players in the world and why would they want to play in the summer?"
Allen won a gold medal while playing for the U.S. at the Sydney Games in 2000. Two years ago, he played on the team that qualified, and later won a bronze medal at last summer's Athens Olympics. But he feels most NBA veterans simply need the summer to rest and prepare for the next season.
"Most athletes, they hunger for the Olympics every four years. They spend their lives wanting to get there and that's what they want to do.
"But we're different. We just finished an 82-game season and we want to chill out. People put so much pressure on NBA players, that you should be playing for your country, but you don't realize that many of us just want to do nothing in the summer."
Allen said he didn't know how much players should be paid for participating, but that the money could be generated from merchandise that is sold featuring NBA stars.
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Apparently just playing for the honor of your country might not be enough for some NBA players.
Sonics guard Ray Allen says USA Basketball should consider paying NBA players to play in the Olympics, according to a report in The Seattle Times.
Allen said that Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo, who was picked to oversee USA Basketball through the 2008 Games in Beijing, should effectively abandon the idea of having tryouts and pay players instead.
"You're dealing with a different animal than the other sports," Allen said. "You've got people who are selling out buildings (venues) and if you want these particular (NBA) players there, how do you get them there?"
With the overload of information (read: videotape) available on most players, asking a star such as Shaquille O'Neal to try out for the Olympic team might simply be a waste of time.
"When we did that when we were in college, you don't really know who can play. You're playing in a system," said Allen, who scored a career playoff-high 45 points Sunday in the Sonics' 115-103 victory over Sacramento in Game 4. "A lot of guys have proven what they can do. You mean to tell me you're going to make Shaq try out? I don't think so."
But Allen insists he isn't suggesting players deserve to be paid for representing their country, it's just that paying them might entice the most talented ones to participate in the '08 Games.
"I'm by no means saying I need to get paid," he said, "but you're talking about some of these young players who are some of the best players in the world and why would they want to play in the summer?"
Allen won a gold medal while playing for the U.S. at the Sydney Games in 2000. Two years ago, he played on the team that qualified, and later won a bronze medal at last summer's Athens Olympics. But he feels most NBA veterans simply need the summer to rest and prepare for the next season.
"Most athletes, they hunger for the Olympics every four years. They spend their lives wanting to get there and that's what they want to do.
"But we're different. We just finished an 82-game season and we want to chill out. People put so much pressure on NBA players, that you should be playing for your country, but you don't realize that many of us just want to do nothing in the summer."
Allen said he didn't know how much players should be paid for participating, but that the money could be generated from merchandise that is sold featuring NBA stars.
link
