I really don't get how Sharapova plays for Russia

[bab]

Half of the NBA plays for other countries. The US played Tunesia yesterday and they said that was the only olympic team without an NBA player on it. LOL

[janegold]

Aug 1, 2012 16:02:06 GMT -5 frkls said:

Aug 1, 2012 15:58:37 GMT -5 bab said:

Half of the NBA plays for other countries. The US played Tunesia yesterday and they said that was the only olympic team without an NBA player on it. LOL

i don't understand how the NBA players are playing at all. i thought the deal was that olympic athletes are amateurs.

That rule was changed back in '92 or something. The WNBA, whose season is during the summer, actually takes about a month-long hiatus during Olympic years b/c so many of the players are in the Olympics.

A lot of American pro athletes are able to finagle citizenship in other countries so they can compete even if they don't make the American team.

[imoan]

Amateurs not in the sense that they just hopped on the balance beam for the first time... but that they are unpaid for the sport/activity they are participating in. That used to be the main thing about the Olympics... they were people who didn't make a living playing their sport.

[sugarplum]

I kind of agree - she has like 2 or 3 houses in the States and lives full time in Florida where she trains. But she was born there.

As for the NBA basketball players, they don't really finagle citizenship of other countries. Many are actually from other countries but enter the NBA draft.

[janegold]

Actually, some athletes have switched citizenship for this exact purpose. Becky Hammon of the WNBA is probably the best known example (she became a Russian citizen after she was not invited onto the USA team last Olympics) but I have heard of others.

[sonrisa]

Has she ever naturalized? Just because she lives here doesn't mean she's a USC. (And being a USC doesn't preclude dual or triple citizenship).

[janegold]

She is a Russian citizen.

ETA: I just realized Sonrisa was probably talking about Sharapova, not Becky Hammon.

[sonrisa]

Eh, probably.

I heard the "[why] isn't he American?" question a few times a year so I'm quick with the trigger response (especially after one of my dad's friends when on an rant about how all the dirty furners needed to get the hell out of the US).

[cheesierthanchedda]

Aug 1, 2012 16:07:17 GMT -5 letsgetweird said:

Aug 1, 2012 16:02:06 GMT -5 frkls said:

i don't understand how the NBA players are playing at all. i thought the deal was that olympic athletes are amateurs.

Amateurs? No, these are the top athletes. Many soccer players from well known clubs and NHL players (Winter, of course) participate.

Yeah, but (at least with the soccer players) they have to be under 23. They're allowed to have 2 or 3 over the age limit (hence Beckham's eligibility, even though England didn't select him), but the majority of the team is made up of young players.

And in the soccer world, the idea of playing for a country you don't call home is totally normal and accepted. See: Giuseppe Rossi. Born and raised in New Jersey, was considered one of the biggest up and comers for the US team when he announced that he was going to play for Italy instead (presumably so he could actually win something big). MOST players, however, go the other way. They opt to play for a smaller country so that they actually get playing time. That's why the African teams do so well at the World Cup; many of their players live and play for European clubs.

Also a fun story: the Balotelli brothers. Born in Ghana, but raised in Italy. Mario plays for the Italian team, but his younger brother may end up playing for Ghana.

FIFA rules (I don't know about Olympic rules) state that once you play for a national team, you cannot ever play for a different one.

[gretchenindisguise]

I'm thinking L's ticket to the Olympics is by utilizing her Spanish citizenship.

[sonrisa]

Aug 1, 2012 16:53:36 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

I'm thinking L's ticket to the Olympics is by utilizing her Spanish citizenship.

Start teaching her fencing now :-)