Team USA shmoney-danced its way to the gold medal on Sunday, but not everyone is happy. Some in the media allege that NBA superstars taking part in the FIBA Basketball World Cup is little more than a cleverly-disguised recruiting ploy from college head coaches such as Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim, and there’s reportedly now a push to keep veteran players out of the tourney and others.
According to Yahoo! Sports, USA Basketball might start sending 22-and-under squads to international competitions:
As one GM said, “[Outside of the U.S. team], there’s more talent and more interest from basketball fans in the NBA summer league than this event.”
For all the inspiration the U.S. coaches and players tried to drain out of [Paul] George’s injury, understand something: It was in vain. He lost a year of his career for the chance to play in a tournament that few watched back home, and even fewer felt mesmerized by across the world. The risk-reward for NBA stars participating in FIBA tournaments has never been so low, the gains of the Mike Krzyzewskis and Jim Boeheims on the bench so high. George will be the impetus to end the full participation of NBA stars, but far from the reason. After the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the World Cup of Basketball and Olympic Games are destined to become an under-22 developmental tournament.
”We need to get our vets out and move our younger players in,” one NBA general manager said. “The support’s there for the change, and it’s getting stronger.”
