Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen: Olympic Basketball Team Members Should Get Paid

[RaptorFan]

totally veering away from the topic, but don't you think owners have a right to decide whether a NBA player should enter the olympic team?

Yes, unpatriotic. however the owners are the ones who signed the player to an nba contract and they are the ones taking the risk if the player gets injured. let's say bynum makes the nba team and his knee injury is worsened during the tournament and is expected to lose a large amount games for his recovery. not only will this affect the lakers record, but sales of merchandise, fan support and make the owners lose money. i know the lakers organization is filthy rich and would probably make a lopsided rigged trade that would send lebron for steve blake and they wouldn't miss bynum. but imagine if kevin love was injured during the olympics? kyrie irving? byron mullens (lol)? what would that do to the small market teams that need these players to sell? not only does the team become much worse but the owners lose potential sales and ratings. the owners have a right to the final say befor sending one of their players to olympics.

mark cuban also made this point when he was addressing this fact about the potential of losing dirk to injury because of the olympics (which would a HUGE potential loss)

 

[RaptorFan]

ps. wade's a bitch, i used to like him. now i don't. i regret drafting his sorry ass on my fantasy team

 

[ButterMPancakes]

totally veering away from the topic, but don't you think owners have a right to decide whether a NBA player should enter the olympic team?

Yes, unpatriotic. however the owners are the ones who signed the player to an nba contract and they are the ones taking the risk if the player gets injured. let's say bynum makes the nba team and his knee injury is worsened during the tournament and is expected to lose a large amount games for his recovery. not only will this affect the lakers record, but sales of merchandise, fan support and make the owners lose money. i know the lakers organization is filthy rich and would probably make a lopsided rigged trade that would send lebron for steve blake and they wouldn't miss bynum. but imagine if kevin love was injured during the olympics? kyrie irving? byron mullens (lol)? what would that do to the small market teams that need these players to sell? not only does the team become much worse but the owners lose potential sales and ratings. the owners have a right to the final say befor sending one of their players to olympics.

mark cuban also made this point when he was addressing this fact about the potential of losing dirk to injury because of the olympics (which would a HUGE potential loss)

No, because then they might as well just ban players from doing anything outside of practice that may be deemed slightly risky. The Jazz would probably ban Gordon Hayward from using a computer with the fear of him becoming an even bigger Starcraft nerd.

 

[Pyro]

totally veering away from the topic, but don't you think owners have a right to decide whether a NBA player should enter the olympic team?

I thought they did, which is why Z didn't play for Lithuania in '08.

 

[Kyrieville]

Olympians should not get paid. Wade should stay home.

 

[melecoaze]

These guys make millions and still want more money, while most part of the players from other countries dont make 1/100 of what they do and are not talking shit, lol

 

[Man Called X]

I thought they did, which is why Z didn't play for Lithuania in '08.

Z couldn't get insured for the Olympics. That's why he didn't play.

 

[th1]

totally veering away from the topic, but don't you think owners have a right to decide whether a NBA player should enter the olympic team?

Yes, unpatriotic. however the owners are the ones who signed the player to an nba contract and they are the ones taking the risk if the player gets injured. let's say bynum makes the nba team and his knee injury is worsened during the tournament and is expected to lose a large amount games for his recovery. not only will this affect the lakers record, but sales of merchandise, fan support and make the owners lose money. i know the lakers organization is filthy rich and would probably make a lopsided rigged trade that would send lebron for steve blake and they wouldn't miss bynum. but imagine if kevin love was injured during the olympics? kyrie irving? byron mullens (lol)? what would that do to the small market teams that need these players to sell? not only does the team become much worse but the owners lose potential sales and ratings. the owners have a right to the final say befor sending one of their players to olympics.

mark cuban also made this point when he was addressing this fact about the potential of losing dirk to injury because of the olympics (which would a HUGE potential loss)

where do you think all these players come from ? They just magically appear out of nowhere ? Countries invest billions in their sports infrastructure and most of the athletes doesn't have to pay a cent for everything. Basketball courts, schools, trainers, free education. All they are asked to do in reward is to play few weeks for their national team. Now if Cuban invests 1 billion dollars in Germans basketball infrastructure, he can say something. Otherwise he should just shut the fuck up.

 

[KI4MVP]

Z couldn't get insured for the Olympics. That's why he didn't play.

I think we had something to do with that decision too. Perhaps it was as simple as our not clearing him to play without insurance.

 

[Man Called X]

I think we had something to do with that decision too. Perhaps it was as simple as our not clearing him to play without insurance.

Yeah, I'm thinking that was the case.

 

[RaptorFan]

Countries invest billions in their sports infrastructure and most of the athletes doesn't have to pay a cent for everything. Basketball courts, schools, trainers, free education. All they are asked to do in reward is to play few weeks for their national team. Now if Cuban invests 1 billion dollars in Germans basketball infrastructure, he can say something. Otherwise he should just shut the fuck up.

the players can donate their own money which they made from the owners (so in a sense it is the owners money) to basketball programs and helping maintain this "sport infrastructure" in their respective homelands. However the matter at hand is potential loss of a selling product (the players) which is out of the owners hand. they believe, they need to have a say in this. The owners and GMs are constantly worried when their star player that is playing overseas with training staff that are not their own, for an Olympic team just because of the fear that he might get injured, which i stated before, may create financial loss and affect the team record for the short run or the long run (e.g. pau gasol's grind after playing 2 straight season and playing high intensity international tournaments with spain, etc.)

 

[-Akronite-]

Should players get royalties from the for-profit sale of Olympic gear with their name/likeness on it? It seems wrong. Giving players money doesn't solve a problem, just adds to it. Just like refusing to pay players doesn't fix the problem... Why is Nike allowed to make money on Olympic gear? I guess I don't know enough about the situation to judge these prima donna players (and if you think that's judgmental, to be fair they are prima donna's regardless of this Olympic shit).

Should owners have a say in whether a player participates in the Olympics? Fuck no. Sounds like we're enslaving these players because of a contract to play basketball during a different part of the year. The owners made an investment on their ability to play. But they bought their service, not their body. Not to mention the fact that it's fucking atrocious that someone would be so selfish as to deny someone the right to play for their country. That can be a once in a lifetime opportunity, and there's no reason why we should have all the greatest athletes in the world at the worlds largest sporting event. Come on.

 

[Spencer Hawes]

Wade should be replaced with Britney Griner.

 

[RaptorFan]

Should owners have a say in whether a player participates in the Olympics? Fuck no. Sounds like we're enslaving these players because of a contract to play basketball during a different part of the year. The owners made an investment on their ability to play. But they bought their service, not their body. Not to mention the fact that it's fucking atrocious that someone would be so selfish as to deny someone the right to play for their country. That can be a once in a lifetime opportunity, and there's no reason why we should have all the greatest athletes in the world at the worlds largest sporting event. Come on.

we build up the olympics like it's a act of patriotism, but it's not. it's a luxury for us to watch, there is no special significance to it. owners like cuban have millions on the line when dirk is playing overseas. it doesn't hurt much when it's cuban paying for another surgery because he's filthy rich, but what if it was a small-market team like the cavaliers? i am clearly not saying that the owners have the ultimate say in deciding the player's decision when it comes to joining the olympics, but they should have a voice in the decision. if i was a owner or the general manager i would be very anxious watching my star player risk having an injury in a tournament where i do not benefit financially, but have millions on the line.

 

[bigfoot5415]

Olympians should not be paid because they are representing their country under their own free will.

and no to college athlets getting paid. They get free schooling, free living, free books, and sometimes an extra allowance. Thats roughly $50k plus. If your so worried about being broke and not having the cash to go out with your friends, take out a god damn loan through your school like everyone else. A few grand in loans to get the rest of your college paid for is fair enough.