[SamAdams76]

Here's another reason we should not allow professional players onto our Olympic teams: Conflict of interest.

Think about it. What is more important to a typical NBA player? Winning a gold medal in the Olympics or having a long and lucrative NBA career?

If an NBA player gets a serious injury in the Olympics, than he could lose millions of dollars in NBA salary. So it goes without saying that an NBA player probably isn't going to go "all out" to win in the Olympics and will be careful not to injure himself and jeopardize his NBA career. Ditto for NHL players.

To your average NBA bigshot, winning a gold medal in the Olympics is just a feather in your cap. But for a 20-year-old college player who will likely never see the NBA, a gold medal represents the highpoint of his life. By stocking our Olympic teams with detached professionals who have already reached the greatest of heights, we are denying many young players the opportunity of a lifetime. And I think that's pretty sad.

[wagglebee]

I couldn't agree more. I read an article the other day where Iverson just paid something like $4000.00 in fines for parking his Rolls Royce in a handicap parking space at the Philly airport. His behavior in the NBA has proved he doesn't even give a damn about his own team. How can anyone expect him to care about what he probably views as a "cheap gold coin".

[GRRRRR]

Our NBA is nothing but a bunch of thugs and goons...I hope they get their heads handed to them. Then, next time, we play real Olympians...hungry college kids!

[drjimmy]

Here's another reason we should not allow professional players onto our Olympic teams

That boat sailed years ago. Every other country has professional players, some of them current or former NBA players. A whole bunch of NBA guys, from Shack on down, turned down their country when asked to be part of Team USA. So I give full credit to every man who said yes, even Allen Iverson, despite knowing they could risk their career with an injury.

The fantasy that we could recapture the magic with an all-college team is just that. The Americans would be lucky to even qualify an Olympic team, going up against international competition that has plenty of professionals. If you think it's okay to make a point by losing with amateurs, that's one thing, but to think they could win a medal, that's fantasy.

[Zechariah11]

I have to agree with you. These "representatives of the United States" appeared listless and bored for three quarters.