Canada Basketball

[Puffer]

I wonder if there has been communication amongst the players? So many are not showing up, it's almost as if they have agreed to take a hard pass on the FIBA tournament with the expectation that they can qualify next year. Am I wrong about NBA players being available for the final qualifying tournament for the Olympics?

[golden]

I wonder if there has been communication amongst the players? So many are not showing up, it's almost as if they have agreed to take a hard pass on the FIBA tournament with the expectation that they can qualify next year. Am I wrong about NBA players being available for the final qualifying tournament for the Olympics?

The majority of player agents and the franchises themselves are united on their opinion that the FIBA and the Olympics do not benefit most players and their careers. It's as simple as that. Both of those strong voices are in player's ears discouraging them from participating. The money and investment being put at risk has become too big these days to take that chance. The players are agreeing with them.

The owners are especially pissed off that FIBA and the IOC get to monetize their players for free and while the owners take all the risk and get nothing. To top it all off, the IOC rakes in all this money while being registered as a non-profit organization. lol. It's a scam of the highest order.

[guyroch]

Canada played Austrailia in game 1 and won 90-70 .. Wow that is a shocking result .. Although it's only exhibition... If the score was 90-70 but Canada lost we could have blamed jet lag but still we would have been mega negative but not surprised

https://coupler.foxsports.com.au/api...da04f26c67b1ru

https://coupler.foxsports.com.au/api...eeda04f26c67b1

No Cory Joseph but it seems they are still hopeful ..

[golden]

Canada played Austrailia in game 1 and won 90-70 .. Wow that is a shocking result .. Although it's only exhibition... If the score was 90-70 but Canada lost we could have blamed jet lag but still we would have been mega negative but not surprised

https://coupler.foxsports.com.au/api...da04f26c67b1ru

https://coupler.foxsports.com.au/api...eeda04f26c67b1

No Cory Joseph but it seems they are still hopeful ..

Neither team is showing their cards, so the results mean very little.

[KeonClark]

The majority of player agents and the franchises themselves are united on their opinion that the FIBA and the Olympics do not benefit most players and their careers. It's as simple as that. Both of those strong voices are in player's ears discouraging them from participating. The money and investment being put at risk has become too big these days to take that chance. The players are agreeing with them.

The owners are especially pissed off that FIBA and the IOC get to monetize their players for free and while the owners take all the risk and get nothing. To top it all off, the IOC rakes in all this money while being registered as a non-profit organization. lol. It's a scam of the highest order.

I mean sure the IOC is crooked and that is a problem, but people playing international competitions without being compensated much is not a new phenomenon. It was OK in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s...now in 2019 its crooked to ask athletes to compete for their country without pay? (They get a per diem, expenses paid, and they get a pretty fat cheque for medalling, especially gold, and the added fame and resume can propel them to more money: see Shaun White, Phelps, Bolt, etc..)

And again, its ridiculous the money the IOC takes home. Volunteers should be paid. Athletes should be paid more. Medals should be awarded more money. But there is still a limit, it is not realistic to compensate NBA guys the amount of $ that would make it actually worth it for people that are worth 9 figures plus.

At some point, while I believe every Olympic athlete deserves a living wage and more money (to reiterate: less to the IOC, more to the athletes, volunteers, and local municipalities) the fact remains that no matter what, the Olympics still and always will be partly for the "love of the game". The NBA is their job, this is an event. And the guaranteed salaries at home make it so very rarely will an injury in the event effect their compensation in the long run.

[S.R.]

The IOC has similar systemic problems as the NCAA. You can't be generating millions of dollars of revenue, have weird regulations about who needs to get what, exclude the people who should be getting 50+% of the revenue, and not have all kinds of corruption and back room nonsense going on. All the garbage will be there as long as those organizations are set up the way they are.

I'd guess there's two things going on with the players:
- The culture of the sport is so dominated now by "ringz or bust" and "load management" as a part of that. I mean the Finals MVP last season said the 82 games (which these guys are actually paid to play) are just practice for the 2 months of the year that actually matter. Where does that leave unpaid international tournaments with no connection to Larry OB? And as part of that is the injury risk concern, especially with some recent high profile & serious injuries. Why risk that? Stay healthy for next spring.
- The shine from the novelty of competing in the Olympics for your country & the legacy of the Dream Team seems to have faded over time. The hype is gone.

I'm not much one for conspiracy theories of agents/unions/owners/coaches having players in their back pockets. I think the players generally do what they want in the summer.

[golden]

I mean sure the IOC is crooked and that is a problem, but people playing international competitions without being compensated much is not a new phenomenon. It was OK in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s...now in 2019 its crooked to ask athletes to compete for their country without pay? (They get a per diem, expenses paid, and they get a pretty fat cheque for medalling, especially gold, and the added fame and resume can propel them to more money: see Shaun White, Phelps, Bolt, etc..)

And again, its ridiculous the money the IOC takes home. Volunteers should be paid. Athletes should be paid more. Medals should be awarded more money. But there is still a limit, it is not realistic to compensate NBA guys the amount of $ that would make it actually worth it for people that are worth 9 figures plus.

At some point, while I believe every Olympic athlete deserves a living wage and more money (to reiterate: less to the IOC, more to the athletes, volunteers, and local municipalities) the fact remains that no matter what, the Olympics still and always will be partly for the "love of the game". The NBA is their job, this is an event. And the guaranteed salaries at home make it so very rarely will an injury in the event effect their compensation in the long run.

So the best argument is that the players should treat the Olympics like the non-profit, charitable event that it is? I.E. it's their civic duty to play in order to bolster national pride? Lebron does lots of humanitarian work for his community that is more impactful (like building schools) than his presence allowing Team USA to win the gold medal game by 30pts instead of 20.

And you also can't compare track and swimming to basketball. The Olympics is the biggest stage for those athletes, so of course they have to show up. The NBA is by far the biggest stage for basketball - nothing else is even close. So there really isn't much to gain career-wise for pro bball players, other than the up & coming guys who want to increase their visibility/status and associate their "brand" with winning. That's basically what Lebron did before he won an NBA championship.

[KeonClark]

So the best argument is that the players should treat the Olympics like the non-profit, charitable event that it is? I.E. it's their civic duty to play in order to bolster national pride? Lebron does lots of humanitarian work for his community that is more impactful (like building schools) than his presence allowing Team USA to win the gold medal game by 30pts instead of 20.

And you also can't compare track and swimming to basketball. The Olympics is the biggest stage for those athletes, so of course they have to show up. The NBA is by far the biggest stage for basketball - nothing else is even close. So there really isn't much to gain career-wise for pro bball players, other than the up & coming guys who want to increase their visibility/status and associate their "brand" with winning. That's basically what Lebron did before he won an NBA championship.

It's not their civic duty, they should just want to. I know I would. NHL players get so fucking excited to go hang out in the village and bond overseas and do the whole 9 yards.

Again, if its all about money, then forget it. no amount of money is realistic to sway guys that are worth well over 100 million dollars.

Have we all lost our way so badly in greed and selfishness? This is called a life experience, something you can remember forever. Unless Wiggins is trying to make his casket out of $100 bills when he dies, all the power to him.

maybe I'm too hokey and sentimental but you didn't hear guys always obsessing over their "brand" and what they had to gain from in the 90s. It was just something fun to do, and an honor to be named.

[The Great One]

I'm pretty sure Tristan Thompson is injured, and has played looooots of international games for Canada in the past - so shouldn't he get a pass???

Celebrate the double T!!

Alsoooo, you want to celebrate Jamal Murray?? I'm not saying you shouldn't for sure - but I was under the impression he hadn't exactly committed to Canada basketball too much so far, is that incorrect?

Did not know TT is injured so my bad. Murray is injured so he gets a pass as well.

[golden]

It's not their civic duty, they should just want to. I know I would. NHL players get so fucking excited to go hang out in the village and bond overseas and do the whole 9 yards.

Again, if its all about money, then forget it. no amount of money is realistic to sway guys that are worth well over 100 million dollars.

Have we all lost our way so badly in greed and selfishness? This is called a life experience, something you can remember forever. Unless Wiggins is trying to make his casket out of $100 bills when he dies, all the power to him.

maybe I'm too hokey and sentimental but you didn't hear guys always obsessing over their "brand" and what they had to gain from in the 90s. It was just something fun to do, and an honor to be named.

It's not just money - there's more scutiny and pressure on these guys to perform in the NBA. They get roasted on social media on a nightly basis. That never happened way back when. That's why the whole "preparing for the upcoming season" actually rings true to some degree. In the 70's & 80's, players didn't even start training until the first week of the regular season and even then, they 'played their way into shape'.

And today's players have more opportunities for great life experiences being thrown their way on a daily basis, than you can shake a stick at. Representing your country is just one of many priorities they can choose from.

But yes, the over-riding cause is greed. If you want to blame anybody on the player's side.... blame Lebron. His "athlete as a corporation" is setting the tone and everybody else is following suit. Still plenty of blame to spread around.

[Hotshot]

Neither team is showing their cards, so the results mean very little.

True so I do expect Australia to look a whole lot better 24 hours later. They will adjust.

[guyroch]

Neither team is showing their cards, so the results mean very little.

Like I said .. but it's better then a lose .. You think playing on your home soil .. That the Aussies were putting up some sort of effort for the home crowd

[MixxAOR]

[guyroch]

Thanks for the link

[guyroch]

Canada 73 Aussies 81

Canada lead most of the game but Aussies had a good 3rd and better 4th ..