Lauren RabainoBecky Hammon wanted to play basketball for her country at the Olympic Games, but her country didn’t want her. So Hammon did the next best thing: she joined a new country. It just so happens that the two countries have quite a checkered past.
Hammon, who was born and raised in South Dakota, will play under the Russian flag in the Olympics this summer, sparking a trend that has disturbed many and influenced people to name her a traitor.
Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman was raised in Michigan. He will take to the Beijing court in a German uniform opposite new German teammate and NBA rival Dirk Nowitzki.
Hammon seems to take the brunt of the scrutiny, however. Living in Russia during the WNBA offseason to play in a Russian league, Hammon was fast-tracked to citizenship due to league rules allowing limited international roster spots.
After being shunned by the American Olympic team for the second time, Hammon decided she would follow her Olympic dream to the Russian national team.
American national team coach Anne Donovan was the first to publicly label Hammon a traitor, saying, “If you play in this country, live in this country and you grow up in the heartland, and you put on a Russian uniform, you are not a patriotic person.”
Donovan does not make any mention that Hammon actually spends more time in Russia than in the United States, nor that she makes more money playing abroad than she does in the WNBA.
While Donovan does not agree with Hammon’s decision, I question Donovan’s decision to not invite the WNBA MVP runner-up to the first round of practice for the team. Hammon was not one of the 23 initial players selected for the roster. That is akin to Chris Paul, who finished runner-up to Kobe Bryant, being thought of as not good enough to make its first list of hopefuls.
Eventually the list was expanded to 30 names and Hammon was added to it just days before the first tryout, but by that time the insult was too great.
While Hammon has no genetic connection to Russia, Kaman’s grandparents were both native Germans. Perhaps that is why he has gotten a virtual pass from the media and analysts.
If someone dreams of playing Olympic basketball, should the country they represent be such an important aspect? Or should playing on the highest level against the best the world has to offer be good enough?
Playing at the level of competition that these athletes do, one would suspect that it is the competition they crave, and not the glory for their home country. To be the best in the world at something means you are already the best in your country, no matter what country it is.
Still, one has to wonder if the fact that Hammon is playing for Russia and not any other country has something to do with the backlash she is getting.
In an interview with the Houston Chronicle in June she said, “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.”
Scott Silvey is a journalism senior, Mustang Daily reporter and assistant sports editor.