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Allen: NBA Olympians should be paid
TSN.ca Staff
5/2/2005 12:50:34 PM
Ray Allen says NBA players should be paid for playing in the Olympics as a way to entice them to compete at the Games.
The Seattle SuperSonics guard also has some advice for incoming USA Basketball boss Jerry Colangelo - forget about staging tryouts to select the team.
"I'm by no means saying I need to get paid, 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 tells the Seattle Times.
"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 wouldn't say how much players should be paid but suggested that the money could come from Olympic merchandise sales.
"You're making money off of their merchandising. You're not making money off of the discus thrower. All of those people are walking around (at the Olympics) with jerseys of the basketball team, not the baseball team. If Shaq signs on the Olympic team in 2008, his jersey is going to be one of the highest (selling) jerseys that there is."
Colangelo replaces the 10-member committee that has selected the U.S. international teams. He said he plans to hold tryouts, possibly starting with a pool of 25 to 50 NBA and college players and expects a two-year commitment from players and coaches.
"Why would you need anyone of these guys in the NBA to try out?" said Allen, who won a gold medal at the 2000 Games. "You know what everybody does. You know who your shooters are. You know (who) can't dribble. You know who your post-up players are... 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."
NBA players were permitted to play in the Olympics for the first time in 1992. However, the number of marquee players opting to play for Team USA in subsequent years has diminished with only a dozen of the league's best making the trip to Athens, where the American's had to settle for bronze - the first time they did not win the Olympic tournament since NBA players were allowed to compete.
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TSN.ca Staff
5/2/2005 12:50:34 PM
Ray Allen says NBA players should be paid for playing in the Olympics as a way to entice them to compete at the Games.
The Seattle SuperSonics guard also has some advice for incoming USA Basketball boss Jerry Colangelo - forget about staging tryouts to select the team.
"I'm by no means saying I need to get paid, 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 tells the Seattle Times.
"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 wouldn't say how much players should be paid but suggested that the money could come from Olympic merchandise sales.
"You're making money off of their merchandising. You're not making money off of the discus thrower. All of those people are walking around (at the Olympics) with jerseys of the basketball team, not the baseball team. If Shaq signs on the Olympic team in 2008, his jersey is going to be one of the highest (selling) jerseys that there is."
Colangelo replaces the 10-member committee that has selected the U.S. international teams. He said he plans to hold tryouts, possibly starting with a pool of 25 to 50 NBA and college players and expects a two-year commitment from players and coaches.
"Why would you need anyone of these guys in the NBA to try out?" said Allen, who won a gold medal at the 2000 Games. "You know what everybody does. You know who your shooters are. You know (who) can't dribble. You know who your post-up players are... 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."
NBA players were permitted to play in the Olympics for the first time in 1992. However, the number of marquee players opting to play for Team USA in subsequent years has diminished with only a dozen of the league's best making the trip to Athens, where the American's had to settle for bronze - the first time they did not win the Olympic tournament since NBA players were allowed to compete.
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