Jun 15th 2008 9:55AM by Michael David Smith

Becky Hammon is an American who plays for the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars. She's also going to play in the Olympics in Beijing -- but not for Team USA.

Instead, Hammon will play for Russia's Olympic basketball team. Hammon has no Russian ancestry, but she has played professionally in Russia, and she became a Russian citizen to aid her basketball career. In the eyes of the International Olympic Committee, that's good enough for her to play for Russia.
That doesn't sit well with some in this country. During a CNN interview, Team USA women's basketball coach Anne Donovan referred to Hammon as a "traitor." Similar sentiments were expressed today on ESPN's Outside the Lines.
But that's silly. This isn't war, it's basketball. Hammon wanted to be an Olympian, she wasn't chosen for the American team, and so she looked elsewhere. People who don't like the rules that allow that can blame the IOC, but blaming Hammon for wanting to play on her sport's biggest stage is wrong.

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/...ting-russia-a/

Interview with Becky HAMMON -

Any thoughts?

Ammusement

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Ummm... I think I'll have Mexican for dinner?

I don't have a problem with this at all. If she isn't needed by the USA team, she can play for anyone else who'd have her IMHO.

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Well if USA turned her down and Russia accepted her, doesn't that just show Russia has lower standards?

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I wouldn't say they necessarily have lower standards, perhaps they just don't have a lot of good women basketball players.

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