Kostas Papanikolau of Greece, the 2nd-round draft pick of the New York Knicks in 2012 Olympic basketball begins today … sort of. And all those New York Knicks fans who are wondering about their new draft pick, Kostas Papanikolau, will likely get a chance to see him later this summer against Team USA. Greece is one of the favorites in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament that begins today in Venezuela, and there are more familiar faces for NBA fans
For David Stern, the Olympic experience has come full circle. The NBA commissioner has often found himself depicted as an international bully, and nothing could be further from the truth – at least as it applies to past Olympics. The oddity of such a charge is that it occurs only in this country, which leads us to one of the great mysteries of American sports journalism: How is it that so many journalists throughout the world know exactly what happened, yet accomplished
OKLAHOMA CITY — I caught up with NBA commissioner David Stern today at an NBA Cares event held at the Oklahoma City rescue mission to press him on the proposal being discussed to limit the Olympic men’s basketball competition to players 23 and under — an item I first wrote about last week with a similar headline. Here’s the gist of what he said: _ A big part of the reason why the NBA is pushing this discussion is because they want
// First of all, the draft lottery was NOT fixed. NBA commissioner David Stern would be committing a felony if he rigged the lottery, and the guy does not want to be using soap on a rope for 15-to-20 years. OK? So lay off the conspiracy theories. Your time would be better spent perusing our first Mock Draft, now that the order is known. Is Stern’s idea of limiting the Olympics to players 23 and younger a good one? Hell no! It is idiocy in
NEW YORK — Our best vs. your best, and let’s see who can win the gold medal in men’s basketball at the Olympics. That was the idea that spawned the Dream Team, and now NBA commissioner David Stern sounds as though he wants to change it. Stern on Wednesday endorsed a discussion of limiting the Olympics and the World Cup of Basketball (formerly called the World Championship) to players 23 and under, bowing to pressure from NBA owners who have complained that
First up in the first round for Team USA at the London Olympics is France, and last is Argentina. The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) today announced pairings and game times for the 2012 Olympic men’s basketball tournament. Two of the USA’s opponents will be determined following the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, scheduled for June 2-8 in Caracas, Venezuela, with the top three finishing teams earning the final three Olympic qualifying berths. The top 2 teams will be in the Americans’
From www.fiba.com
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Team USA will play against France and Argentina in the opening round of the 2012 Olympics. FIBA held its Olympic draw today, and the Americans (who have lost Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose and Chauncey Billups from their original preliminary roster) were also grouped with Tunisian and the top two teams from the play-in tournament to be held in Venezuela in early June. There are six teams in each group, and the top four classified teams from each