Is Becky Hammon a traitor or savvy capitalist?
Barbara Barker


This is not your father's Olympics. Nor is it your father's world. Nothing more drives that point home in sports than the fact that Becky Hammon will be competing for Russia in this summer's Olympics.

That's right. Becky Hammon, the blond WNBA point guard from America's heartland, is going to march into the Olympic Stadium in China under a Russian flag, wearing a Russian uniform. And perhaps the biggest irony of all is that Russia, a country that for years represented the antithesis if everything free market, bought her services - fast tracking her to a Russian citizenship after she signed a four-year contract for more than $2 million to play for CSKA, a Russian professional team, last winter.

Though Hammon received her citizenship several months ago, it wasn't until recently with the start of the WNBA season and the Summer Olympics approaching that her decision received a lot of attention. Suddenly, everywhere her San Antonio team goes she is being asked about her decision with cyber pundits questioning her patriotism.

Is Becky Hammon a traitor?

Or is she simply a savvy capitalist, trying to make the most of her opportunities in a global economy?

Your answer to this has much to do with your age as it does your politics.

That's because the Olympic plot line, like the world, used to be so simple. For years, it was the U.S. versus the Soviet Bloc, freedom versus the Big Brother, capitalism versus a state-run economy, good guys versus bad guys.

The Olympics never would have become the television spectacle they are today without the Cold War as a backdrop. Without it, we wouldn't have had some of sport's most dramatic moments. Would the 'Miracle on Ice' be anything more than a big win? Would the Soviet basketball team have taken the gold from the Americans in Munich? Would television announcers have spent so much time talking about what gymnastics and skating judges were from Soviet Bloc countries and debating how it impacted their scoring?

Yet, to most of today's athletes this is ancient history. Hammon wasn't even a year old when the U.S. Hockey team beat the Soviet Union. She was 12 years old when the Berlin Wall came down. Hammon's Russia is about as far away from a communist country as one can get: Forbes magazine recently estimated that there are 33 billionaires in Moscow, more than any other city in the world including New York which has only 31.

This is not the Russia many Americans grew up cheering against.

For years, Americans have played for other teams. Usually the vehicle for participation is some sort of family tie. More than half of the Greek Olympic softball players in 2004 were Americans, who meet the requirement of having at least one great-grandparent from Greece which had never previously fielded a softball team in international competition.

Hammon has no Russian ancestry and had never been to the country before singing a contract to play professionally there. Yet, under Russian rules, a player who has not played for another country internationally can become a naturalized citizen and then play for the Olympic team.

And that's what Hammon, who finished second in the WNBA's MVP voting last year, decided to do after she was not one of the first 23 players invited to contend for spots on the U.S. team. She decided she was going to go where she was wanted.

"I didn't say no to USA Basketball," Hammon recently told the Houston Chronicle. "The option for me to play for USA Basketball really wasn't an option. ... I don't think people would be as upset if I was playing for Switzerland. God loves Russia just as much as God loves America."

It's an idea we are all getting used to.

And that has what to do with this?

Turncoat.

She meant she loves money more than America!

Were is the outrage when foreigners compete for Team USA in the Olympics?

This is something I would never do & I know about of the history between USA-USSR, but the days of the Olympic$ being about patriotism & innocence are long gone...

I guess she loves the game - loves playing.

Whatever happened to being an amateur? We wouldn't have this problem - okay, we probably would to an extent, but not to the highest bidder - had the Olympics stayed with amateur athletes and not gone to including professional. Is she aware of what happens to Russian athletes when they lose??? (Just kidding....)

Cheapy, you raised the same question I had when I read the article.

Pathetic.

To her, this is more about money than it is about playing. If she just loved playing, she'd be playing here. She loves playing for money. She's whoring her talent out to the Commies.

well ...



quote from bleeds:
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She's whoring her talent out to the Commies.
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She plays professionally in Russia during the WNBA's off-season.

Compared to the line of credit our government has with China, I think Hammon's situation pales in comparison...

^
Now look who's mixing sports and politics.

Doesn't matter. She's an American. They are Russians. Is nothing sacred?

How can you NOT mix the two in this instance?

She is playing for the Russians not the Soviets.

Again, this is something I would never do, but I am not cavalier enough to tell her what to do.

This decision is between Hammon and her conscience, not Hammon and American Message Board Nation

But your certainly not implying that we cant state our opinion on this matter!

My point was that this has nothing to do with China, except to say those of us kicking up about this would probably feel the same if it was China.

Putin is as Soviet as Kruschev. And if you have to mix politics and sports, his posturing as of late indicates that not only does he wish to resurrect the old Soviet Union, but that he is no friend of the US. This isn't about the American Message Board Nation. It's about an American playing for THE arch rival team in the world.

She is a Russian now. She's gotten her Russian citizenship. Just so she can make a buck playing basketball and go to the Olympics. Is it worth it? No.

BTW cheapy, why would you never do it? A bit of a double standard don't you think? Okay for her, but you wouldn't?

Have I ever ???
Answer: NO


Man, you use every opportunity to use the "double standard" GOTCHA retort, don't you?

NEWS FLASH: Double standards exist in our society (GASP!) It is a by-product of a nation comprised of different types of people.

Wouldn't it be ARROGANT of me to think that Hammon should live by MY personal standards?

To answer your question: YES, I can live comfortably in clear conscience of the fact that it is "OK" for her, but not for me ... (is this a revolutionary concept?)

What, are ya stickin' it to me? I think you're stickin' to me.

No. I don't think she should live by your personal standards. She should live by mine.

and if God loves America like she said, then she loves money more than she loves God!!!!

so what does she do when the contract runs out? does she want to be a u.s. citizen again?

She has citizenship in both US and Russia

She wanted to play in the Oplympics for the US, but was not one the the 20 players invited to the Olympic tryouts. Russia offered her to play and she took it. Once the US found out the expanded the roster by 10 more players.

I have no problem with her palying for Russia.

Not. She is a citizen of Russia and the U. S. She wasn't invited to the U. S. tryouts. She took the only route open to her to get to play.

By the way, the olympics have been a joke since they became a professional showcase, anyway. The only thing I really watch is Track & Field and that is beginning to get corrupted as well.....

The starting point guard for the Russian men's team is also a US citizen and played at Bucknell ( I believe his name is JR Rocker). This girl makes 1/10 of the amount in the WNBA that she does in the Russian league. It was interesting listening to the TV guys talking about the money the women and men make playing in Russia and the European leagues. Unless your a top tier guy in the NBA you are better off playing overseas for 7 figures. The WNBA is not even close no matter how good you are. Playing for your country in the Olympics is a big dream for a lot of kids. I guess the next best thing is just being able to play in the Olympics!!!