# USA Basketball is a fraud - bitter point of view from Canada



## The Truth IV (Nov 3, 2005)

Not that anyone will care a great deal, but I don't like how the NBA / USA Basketball has set up Canada for failure.

Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olaujuwon, Tim Duncan and possibly Dikembe Mutumbo (not sure) have played for one edition of the Dream Team. None of these guys were born or even raised in the US. They simply came to the US to play college ball, and then stayed for the NBA.

Why can't Chris Bosh, Jalen Rose, Morris Peterson and Charlie Villaneuva play for Canada? They live in Toronto now - Peterson's been here for 6 years for crying out loud?

Steve Nash leads Canada to an admirable 5th place finish in the 2000 Olympics, and then can't play in the 2002 worlds or 2004 qualifying due to "insurance" issues of the NBA and Mark Cuban (Nash's boss at the time). Meanwhile, Cuban allows Mike Finley to play for the US, and Dirk Nowitzki to play for Germany, etc.... Jamal Magloire has never played for Canada, all because of "insurance" issues and because he's always a free agent when Canada comes calling. 

I know what you're thinking - these guys dodge playing for Canada because they'd rather rest in the off-season than compete for a possible 4th place finish somewhere. I don't care - the NBA ensures that an adequate number of stars make themselves available for USA basketball (and even pulls foreigners onto the squad that can barely speak the language) and could do the same for Canada. If Dave Stern had a will, there'd sure as hell be a way.

I'm not anti-American by any means - my wife and kids are US citizens. I'm just looking for a fair shake for our national ball team. And would it kill you to let us have Morris Peterson? We're tired of getting beaten in international play by Cuba, Australia, and Japan. We allowed USA Hockey to have Brett Hull - he was born in Ontario. The least you could do is give us Morris Peterson.


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## alexander (May 6, 2005)

too bad Canada won't be at the World cup, this year in Japan. I would realy love to see Canadian national team with Nash,Magloire,Fox,Mendez...or why not Peterson,Rose,Bonner...that would be awesome


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## Mr. Hobbes (Jul 1, 2005)

All the Raptor players you mentioned are U.S. citizens, born and raised. Ewing was born in Jamaica, but he lived in U.S. for most of his life. I don't think Congo or Nigeria has a Olympic basketball team. Duncan is from the Virgin Islands, a U.S. territory.


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## Whack Arnolds (Dec 5, 2005)

What is your currency in on your pay check? That's what you rep, lol...
Naw, but Duncan and Ewing were born elsewhere but they were RAISED in the United States. We don't consider MJ a New Yorker because he was born there, he is from Carolina...because thats where he developed as a person and was raised.


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## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

Sammy Dalembert should be allowed to play for Canada then, he went to school in Montreal.
And not that I really want him on my team, but Ivan Chiriaev played ball in Ontario, Brampton actually.

Really truth, we get it pretty good as far as having international born players represent Canada in international competitions, not basketball, but the Olympics?

I can't remember his name Daniel something, he carried the flag for Canada in the last Olympics, he was born somewhere in Africa.
Lennox Lewis.
Ben Johnson
Dovan Bailey, there's plenty. Canada's got it pretty good.


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## MonkeyBallZJr (May 7, 2004)

alexander said:


> too bad Canada won't be at the World cup, this year in Japan. I would realy love to see Canadian national team with Nash,Magloire,Fox,Mendez...or why not Peterson,Rose,Bonner...that would be awesome


Our team is not half bad on paper, but we sure lack depth. Nash has never played with Magloire on the NT...if he did then I'm sure Canada would've actually qualified for the Olympics in Greece. Fox has long retired from the NT, he last played somewhere between 94-97. Not to mention Todd Mcculloch, shame his career was cut short. We also have some good players in Europe, Kevin Jobity, and Rowen Barret who played at St.John's with Felipe Lopez. Juan Mendez and Denham Brown are also solid players and Brown has a shot at the NBA this year. Out of the three you mention only Peterson would be eligible to take a Canadian citizenship test, not sure if he has it though.



shookem said:


> Sammy Dalembert should be allowed to play for Canada then, he went to school in Montreal.
> And not that I really want him on my team, but Ivan Chiriaev played ball in Ontario, Brampton actually.
> 
> Really truth, we get it pretty good as far as having international born players represent Canada in international competitions, not basketball, but the Olympics?
> ...


Didn't Dalembert get cut from the NT? yeh noone wants Chiriaev on the team, he wouldn't be eligible anyways. He only came to Canada for his senior year and it was in Oakville at St. Thomas Aquinas.

The flag bearer you are referring to is Daniel Igali, the wrestler who won gold in Sydney in 2000. Its quite a cinderella story actually, he came to Canada from Africa with nothing and then became Olympic champion. He's doing a lot of charity and community work right now and I think he's even getting into a bit of politics as well.

Lennox Lewis went to my highschool in Kitchener Ontario eh :biggrin: he's visited the school a bunch of times in the last couple of years actually.


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## The Truth IV (Nov 3, 2005)

I'm not sure Duncan, Olaujuwon and Mutumbo were raised in the US (all came to the US solely to play in the NCAA). I'm also quite sure all return to their homeland in the off-seasons. Donovan Bailey, Lennox Lewis, Ben Johnson (my main man) etc... came to Canada as children and lived in Canada year-round (except for training).

Tons of non-Canadian hockey players come to North America to play junior + professional hockey. All of them return home to play for Sweden, Czech, Russia etc....

The US has a wealth of talent in basketball, their success (such that it is lately) would be more legitimate if they used players born (or at least raised) in the continential US. Further, their success would be even more legitimate if countries such as Canada were allowed to use a full complement of players (Nash, Magloire, Fox, etc...). Stern could make it happen, and it would be great for the game in Canada.


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## tdk1984 (May 9, 2005)

I don't think TD does. I believe he spends his offseason in SA practicing with teammates.


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## rock747 (Aug 3, 2004)

The Truth IV said:


> Why can't Chris Bosh, Jalen Rose, Morris Peterson and Charlie Villaneuva play for Canada? They live in Toronto now - Peterson's been here for 6 years for crying out loud?
> 
> 
> I'm not anti-American by any means - my wife and kids are US citizens. I'm just looking for a fair shake for our national ball team. And would it kill you to let us have Morris Peterson? We're tired of getting beaten in international play by Cuba, Australia, and Japan. We allowed USA Hockey to have Brett Hull - he was born in Ontario. The least you could do is give us Morris Peterson.


Has it occured to you that Morris Peterson,Bosh,rose etc. might not want to play for Team Canada since they are U.S. citizens? Even if they could, I am not so sure they would want to do that.


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## The Truth IV (Nov 3, 2005)

Rock747 - my point about MoPete, Bosh and Rose playing for Canada was made to point out how ridiculous it is that Olaujowon, Duncan, etc... play for USA.

I'm sure MoPete and Rose would rather not play for Canada to avoid potential injury and I think Bosh will be asked to play for USA in the near future....oh I forgot that USA Basketball chooses to pick shoe salesmen (e.g. Richard Jefferson and Lebron before he was ready) instead of real ballers.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

heres something funny, hakeem actually lives in canada now, not the US. the reason hakeem, dikembe, and the likes get to play for the US national team is they became citizens and they wanted to. im sure if all the raptor players got their canadian citizenships and wanted to play there, they could. for hakeem, getting his citizenship to play in the olympic games was a big deal for him. it wasnt a "you play here, now be part of our national team." he may have just came to america to play ball, but he learned the vast majority of his ball here.

its not a matter of can or cant (except for cuban not letting nash), its a matter of wanting to.


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## Yuck (Jan 22, 2006)

I don't even know too many NBA players that would like to play IN Canada much less FOR Canada. A number of players were traded on multiple draft nights because Vancouver or Toronto might pick them. BTW, Truth, if those Raptors players wanted to play for the Canadian team, they would. But come on, no offense, but it's Canada...You act like Mo Pete, Bosh, and Charlie actually wanna play for the Canadian team. And I seriously doubt they do. It's a joke to even think about it lol....makes me laugh inside.


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## sa1177 (Feb 18, 2005)

I assume any of the players you mentioned could apply for Canadian citizenship since they do live in Canada primarily....my guess is they choose not to.


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## The Truth IV (Nov 3, 2005)

NBA players want to play in Canada when the Raptors are winning, and they avoid it like the plague when they're not (3 years now and counting). The same applies for any US city - no one ever wants to play for the Clippers, the Nets, New Orleans, etc... even all those cities are awesome (meaning NYC for New Jersey).

You guys make no sense with your points about who "wants" to play somewhere. I'm sure most US hockey players would rather play for Team Canada for the chance to play with a collection of superstars. I'm sure Steve Nash would love the chance to run the point for your dream team for the same reason.

Who cares? How can you be proud of the US team's success when they take foreign players, for one thing, and for another, when David Stern allows other team's star players to sit out because of "insurance reasons" or whatever nonsense?

The funny thing is that USA still loses ....


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## alexander (May 6, 2005)

The Truth IV said:


> NBA players want to play in Canada when the Raptors are winning, and they avoid it like the plague when they're not (3 years now and counting). The same applies for any US city - no one ever wants to play for the Clippers, the Nets, New Orleans, etc... even all those cities are awesome (meaning NYC for New Jersey).
> 
> You guys make no sense with your points about who "wants" to play somewhere. I'm sure most US hockey players would rather play for Team Canada for the chance to play with a collection of superstars. I'm sure Steve Nash would love the chance to run the point for your dream team for the same reason.
> 
> ...


 :clap:


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## AZwildcats4 (Feb 9, 2004)

The Truth IV said:


> NBA players want to play in Canada when the Raptors are winning, and they avoid it like the plague when they're not (3 years now and counting). The same applies for any US city - no one ever wants to play for the Clippers, the Nets, New Orleans, etc... even all those cities are awesome (meaning NYC for New Jersey).
> 
> You guys make no sense with your points about who "wants" to play somewhere. I'm sure most US hockey players would rather play for Team Canada for the chance to play with a collection of superstars. I'm sure Steve Nash would love the chance to run the point for your dream team for the same reason.



I garauntee you if you took a poll of the players on which NBA city they would least like to live in I garauntee you Toronto would top the list. Face it, for the average NBA player, who is most likely a young african american, living in Canada sucks.

And if you really think any NHL players want to play for Canada aside from the Canadians, you need to wake up. And why the hell would Nash ever want to play for the the US team? Seriously, what the hell are you talking about?

If people like Ewing, Duncan, and Hakeem want to play for the U.S., that is their perogative. It is understandable that they would want to play for the country that gave them the chance to make millions of dollars playing ball. I don't see why you find that so hard to accept.


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## vadimivich (Mar 29, 2004)

Ewing and Hakeem became U.S citizens, thus they could play on the national team. If Bosh or MoPete wanted to become Canadian citizens (and had never played internationally for any other country) they could play for the Canadian team - but that's not going to happen.

As for TD, he was born in the U.S Virgin Islands ... a United States territory. You make it sound like he's some foreigner from a far off land


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## Coatesvillain (Jul 17, 2002)

The Virgin Islands is a US Territory, but they have a National Team. I remember a few years ago, Duncan didn't want to play against them because it was where he was from. He had an option to play for either the US or Virgin Islands.


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## sa1177 (Feb 18, 2005)

AZwildcats4 said:


> *I garauntee you if you took a poll of the players on which NBA city they would least like to live in I garauntee you Toronto would top the list.* Face it, for the average NBA player, who is most likely a young african american, living in Canada sucks.
> 
> And if you really think any NHL players want to play for Canada aside from the Canadians, you need to wake up. And why the hell would Nash ever want to play for the the US team? Seriously, what the hell are you talking about?
> 
> If people like Ewing, Duncan, and Hakeem want to play for the U.S., that is their perogative. It is understandable that they would want to play for the country that gave them the chance to make millions of dollars playing ball. I don't see why you find that so hard to accept.


I would be willing to bet Salt Lake City UT tops Toronto.


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## MLKG (Aug 25, 2003)

Coatesvillain said:


> The Virgin Islands is a US Territory, but they have a National Team. I remember a few years ago, Duncan didn't want to play against them because it was where he was from. He had an option to play for either the US or Virgin Islands.


I think the thing was he DIDN'T have an option. I believe it was the Virgin Islands first year with a NT and he would played for them if eligible but since he had played for the US NT in the past he was ineligbile to play for any other country.

Duncan isn't exactly a foreign mercenary though. I'm pretty sure being born in the Virgin Islands makes you a US citizen.

And lets not act like those Gold Medals in '92 and '96 were hinging on Ewing and Hakeem. I think both teams would have been just fine without them.

And Mutumbo never played for the US.


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## Foulzilla (Jan 11, 2005)

The Truth IV said:


> Who cares? How can you be proud of the US team's success when they take foreign players, for one thing, and for another, when David Stern allows other team's star players to sit out because of "insurance reasons" or whatever nonsense?


I don't get it? What does Stern have to do with the Olympics? Are you implying that he doesn't allow the US team stars to sit out (um, I believe the last Olympics were proof that he does)?


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## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

Canada doesn't need to import players from other countries any more then it already could be doing.

Team Canada (Leo) needs to stop the tradition of looking for its players in universities and start scouting some streets.

Give me a two weeks in the summer and I'll go down to the lakeshore and get you five guys that will beat the current team Can. (sans Nash and Mags).

**** levon kendell my boy roy could take him.

face the facts Canada being **** at international basketball has little to do with stern or the NBA. The talent and ability is here. The coaching and systems are not.

If Canada somehow created it's own basketball league we'd have an men's olympic basketball team within five years. We'd be a solid basketball country in 15. Kind like MLB there'd be a dozen or so decent Canadian NBA players.

That's my little rant. sorry but I'm pretty passionate about Canadian basketball. it can be maddening sometimes.


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## Jamel Irief (May 19, 2002)

As many have pointed out, this thread is silly.

You act like it's two fantasy league owners, picking players from a pool and "giving" other countries players.

Is MoPete a citizen of Canada? If not he can't play there. David Stern, Jerry Colangelo or whoever runs Canadian basketball can not let him play there until Peterson decides to become one.

Hakeem was left off the original dream team and the second because he wasn't yet a US citizen. He was proud to become one and considered it a honor to play in 96. 

Where did you pull Mutumbo from?


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