Tag: In the News

Would it really be the Olympics with no NBA players next year in London?

The start of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London is exactly one year away.

Since the introduction of the American “Dream Team” in 1992, men’s basketball has been one of the Olympics biggest and most anticipated events. And it figures to be that way again in London.

That is, if NBA players choose to represent their countries.

The Olympics are a huge part of David Stern’s globalization of the sport. And the league has its fingerprints all over USA Basketball, starting with managing director and former majority Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo running the show.

But if the lockout stretches through at least one season through the early summer next season, it’s extremely doubtful that the players would give in and join up with their national teams.

This promises to be perhaps the United States’ best team since the original “Dream Team” in 1992. Kobe Bryant has committed, eager to match Michael Jordan for his second gold medal. The United States has a deep collection of transcendent young talent like Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose along with emerging superstar players like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. 

Other countries look similarly stacked. The Spain team still has the Gasol brothers, but could also add international icon Ricky Rubio and Serge Ibaka. The Argentinians are stacked with veterans who helped them win in 2004, including Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto. France will have Tony Parker along with Joakim Noah and Boris Diaw

But Yahoo.com columnist Adrian Wojnarowski doubts we’ll see any NBA players if the .

It’s just another part of the equation as owners and players sit down next month to settle their differences when negotiations continue. 

No doubt the executives at 30 Rock for NBC-TV have the fingers crossed for an eventual resolution, too.

Because there’s only so much synchronized swimming, field hockey and dressage they can force feed to the American public in their search for ratings.

George Hill, speeding through the Valley

You’ve got to hand it to now-former Spurs guard George Hill. Despite the fact the Spurs traded him to Indiana on draft night, Hill has kept commitments he made to visit youth camps in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.

Trips to places like McAllen, Brownsville and Laredo aren’t exactly glamorous, but Hill is making them anyway.

“I wanted to keep my commitments to those kids,” Hill said late last month, “because it’s about more than basketball.”

Hill’s willingness to remain engaged in a community that isn’t really his own anymore is commendable. Unfortunately, it appears Hill might have been in a little too big a hurry to get to Laredo this afternoon to fulfill one of those obligations.

To wit,

Just Got Pulled Over on my way 2 Laredo! But Cop let us go, because he said what I do for the Kids and Fans N that I’ll be missed!

Luckily for Hill, it appears he got away with his bit of errant driving. Let’s be careful out there.

Retirement isn’t end for Yao

By Jonathan Feigen
jonathan.feigen@chron.com

HOUSTON — With the door to the NBA that swung open nine years ago now closed on him, Yao Ming on Wednesday chose “a new life.”

Yao announced his retirement in a ceremony and news conference in Shanghai, citing the repeated injuries to his left foot and ankle.

“At the end of the last year, my left foot had a third fracture,” Yao said. “Today, I need to make a personal decision. I will stop my basketball career, and I will formally retire. Today, thinking back and thinking of the future, I have been very grateful. First of all, I need to be grateful to basketball. It has brought happiness to many people, including myself.

“Life is my guide. Just follow it, and it will open doors. Out of each door, there will be (a) beautiful world outside. Since I am retired, one door is closed. But a new life is waiting for me. I have left the basketball (court), but I will not leave basketball.”

He also will not leave Houston and sent a message to his “second hometown.”

“I’d like to thank you for giving me a great nine years in my career,” Yao said. “Nine years ago, I came to Houston as a young, tall, skinny player. An entire city and team changed me to a grown man, not only as a basketball player. I gained my first daughter over there. I feel I’m a Houstonian, and I will always be with you.”

While Yao moved on, the NBA could not quite let go.

NBA commissioner David Stern said he would soon offer Yao a place in the NBA, likely working with the league’s initiatives in China that have taken off since the Rockets made Yao the first pick of the 2002 NBA Draft.

“It’s sad,” Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said. “He had such great potential. He fulfilled it, really, but we would have been a great team with him. It’s sad for him because I know he wants to play very badly. It’s sad for the Rockets.”

The day after Yao was drafted, Alexander had said that Yao would become the greatest sports star in the world. That seemed to be hyperbole at the time, driven by the excitement of landing a 7-foot-6 tower of potential. But Alexander’s expectation turned out to be prophetic.

“At his peak, he was that,” Alexander said. “If he had been healthy, and we would have won championships, he would have been even bigger. But he had the most name recognition in the world. He was a sports icon.”

Stern also flashed back to Yao’s first giant steps to the NBA and the night it all started. He knew then that Yao’s impact would stretch far beyond the court, even if he could not have predicted then the growth of the game in China that Yao would inspire.

“I remember the exhilaration of calling his name as the first pick … and contemplating that he would be a bridge between Chinese fans and American fans,” Stern said. “That all happened with a wonderful mixture of talent, dedication, humanitarian aspirations and a sense of humor.

“What a wonderful combination.”

Alexander said he would like Yao to continue to work with the Rockets but was not sure that would be Yao’s preference.

“Yao’s got so much going for him worldwide, I don’t think he’s the kind of person who would work with one team,” Alexander said. “He’s bigger than that.”