SOMETHING To Ponder While Your NCAA Pool Chlorinates:
Unlike Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Vince Carter already has recused himself from the (U.S. Olympic) bench, citing marriage and potential burnout, while at least half of the remaining chosen few may ask or need to be excused.
As if the grim threat of terrorism isn’t enough reason to surrender one’s spot – if NBA players are going to lose life or limb they’d prefer to do it the American Way . . . in a drive-by or a parking-lot brawl outside a strip club – wear and tear may very well prompt Jason Kidd and Karl Malone to cancel their commitment.
Even if surgery isn’t ultimately required to repair his left knee, who could blame the franchise soldier of fortune should he decide to rest and rehabilitate it this summer, or fault Nets ownership should it demand the same to protect its fragile asset?
At the same time, considering Malone missed nearly half the Lakers’ season due to his initial prolonged (knee) career injury, it’s in the 40-year-old’s best interests to refurbish his body, not push it to its limits in Athens (where he first gained attention the last time the games were held there) during the off-season. That is, if Malone has any intention of surpassing Kareem as the league’s all-time scorer.
Kobe Bryant’s participation, of course, is equally uncertain. Obviously, he’d be banned from the Olympic team should he receive an unfavorable verdict regarding his pending rape case.
Additionally, Jermaine O’Neal and Ray Allen have strongly suggested the stress on their private lives (Allen, too, has marriage plans this summer and his fiancee is expecting in September) and a 45-day training obligation may be too much of a burden.
Allen, whose Sonics completed a five-game excursion Friday in New Orleans with their fourth straight win, would not divulge which way he is leaning, but confessed to the Seattle Times he’s seriously contemplating withdrawing.
“Being on this road trip has let me see I don’t want to be away from my family for a long time,” said Allen who, along with Carter, helped the Dream Team win gold in Sydney and qualify for the ’04 Games last summer in Puerto Rico. “None of my family is going to be there. We’ll be expecting, and everybody would rather be around her than go watch me play basketball. So I’d be floating around Greece all by myself.”
Clearly, such sentiments are not news to Stu Jackson. For the last week or two, the chairman for USA Basketball has been heavily recruiting reinforcements (Shaq and Kevin Garnett appear to be on board) to fill in critical blanks and to properly prepare for the probable deletions and defections listed above.
Surprisingly, or maybe not in view of the remarkable success stories currently being scripted by teen idols, Jackson’s second sphere of emphasis is to enlist/take advantage of the league’s valuable grab bag of youth.
Agents for LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony were telling the truth when they said their clients have been approached about possibly joining the team. Amare Stoudemire was also contacted by Jackson, divulges a source. All three, I’m told, were extremely receptive despite absolutely no assurances of leading roles or quality minutes.
“Let’s face it,” said an Olympic Committee member, “all three youngsters deserve the honor. Who cares if LeBron and Carmelo didn’t make the All-Star team? They’re the future of the league [and] the future of our Olympic team.
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We’re finally finding out how defensively deficient those Pistons really are. After holding a quintet of consecutive rivals under 70 points apiece, Larry Brown‘s Laymen had the nerve to allow the Nets to get 71 (New Jersey won’t be that giddy again until Alonzo Mourning is off its salary cap) and the Nuggets to skate all the way to 75 Friday.
Bottom-feeder Phoenix is the only other Western outpost other than Cafe Starbucks with a losing record (14-21) in front of the homebodies, but the Suns have long since mailed in this season. Which perfectly coincides with their decision to forklift Charlatan Barkley last night into their Ring (Ding) of Honor. Obviously, Jerry Colangelo is doing all he can to devalue the franchise before selling it.
