Is Hammon a 'traitor' for playing for Russia?
I enjoy the Olympics, but over the years I've found that watching what takes place on the medal stands is often better than watching the actual competitions themselves - particularly if an American wins a gold medal.
How neat is it to see a victorious American athlete glowing with pride, and sometimes overcome with emotion, while our flag flies above and our national anthem rings triumphantly through the stadium?
It gives me the chills.
I can only imagine what that athlete must be feeling - and that makes me wonder how basketball standout Becky Hammon will feel if her team wins gold at the Olympics, which begin this week.
By now, you've probably heard about her saga. She's the American-as-apple-pie, blond-haired, pony-tail-wearing point guard for the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars who grew up in South Dakota and played her college ball at Colorado State.
If she maximizes her Olympic moment, she'll do so with the Russian flag and the Russian anthem as backdrops.
Chills? Hmmm. For me - not so much.
Hammon, the runner-up for the WNBA's most valuable player award in 2007, dropped a bombshell when she announced last spring that she would play for Russia in the 2008 Summer Games.
The 31-year-old Hammon has absolutely no Russian ties - no ancestors from there, no family living there. She never stepped foot in the country until she signed a contract to play professionally there last off-season.
Yet, according to Russian rules, since Hammon had never played for any country in a FIBA-sanctioned event, she could obtain a Russian passport and become a naturalized citizen when she joined her team (CSKA Moscow).
It has been reported that Hammon stands to make a boatload of money from this arrangement - about $2 million over four years, which far surpasses what any woman can make in the WNBA.
But she says money isn't driving her. The Olympic experience is.
Despite her status among the WNBA elite, Hammon wasn't out into in the pool of 23 players that tried out for the U.S. national team. Determined to live out her childhood dream of playing in the Olympics, Hammon began to investigate an alternate route, which led her to Moscow.
One of the most popular players in the WNBA - her jersey is the second-highest selling, behind Lisa Leslie's - Hammon has received plenty of support from her legions of fans, who have dubbed themselves "Hammonites."
It's clear her decision also touched a raw nerve because harsh criticism of Hammon is prevalent on various basketball message boards.
Even USA basketball coach Anne Donovan has piled on. She reportedly has called her unpatriotic and a traitor.
"The jersey I wear has never made me who I was. It has nothing to do with what's written on my heart," Hammon told ESPN.com. "Will I be playing for Russia? Yes. But I'm absolutely 100 percent still an American. I love our country. I love what we stand for."
That may be true. But I'm among those who think that Hammon, who long ago stopped doing Olympic-related interviews, has a funny way of showing it.
I don't see the love in forging a superficial relationship with another country just to keep an Olympic dream alive.
Hammon isn't the only player to take advantage of the International Olympic Committee's loopholes. American J.R. Holden, a former Bucknell point guard, will also be playing for Russia under similar circumstances. And remember, former NBA star Hakeem Olajuwon, who was born in Nigeria, played for USA in the 1996 Olympic Games.
Could this free agency be where the Olympics are headed?
The Olympics, which are supposed to be about national pride, patriotism and a country's athletic prowess in the global arena, already involve too much big money. The affiliation of individual athletes shouldn't be subject to the highest bidder.
Just the thought is enough to send a chill up my spine. How about yours?
pbabcock@dailyherald.com