MOSCOW -- Becky Hammon dreamed about the moment as a young girl growing up in Rapid City, S.D. Someday that would be her on that Olympic podium, tears welling up as she hears the national anthem, quivering with emotion as a gold medal is placed around her neck.
"I love my country," Hammon said last month in her Russian apartment. "I love our national anthem. It absolutely gives me chills sometimes. I feel honored to be an American, to be from America because of what we stand for."
But if the 5-foot-6 point guard from America's heartland does ascend that medal stand in Beijing, she won't be wearing America's red, white and blue. And if Hammon does win gold, it won't be the U.S. anthem she hears. It will be the Russian anthem, a melody she says she has come to enjoy since signing a multiyear, multimillion-dollar deal last year to play for CSKA, a Russian professional club.
In April, Hammon signed with the Russian national team, about two weeks after receiving her Russian passport. "I'm going where they really want me and where I have an opportunity to win a medal," Hammon said at the time.
But Hammon -- who's averaging 13.6 points and 4.4 assists for San Antonio (2-3) this season -- says she would have given up "any amount of money" for the opportunity to represent the United States in the Summer Games. Though she finished as the runner-up in the WNBA's MVP race last season, Hammon asserts she never has been on the short list of candidates for the U.S. Olympic team.
"When their list of 23 players came out last year, we're talking about 23 players, and I was not on it, that's a pretty strong statement that 'we're not considering you,'" Hammon said.
"It's unfathomable to me that that would happen," said Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Nancy Lieberman, who placed calls to USA Basketball inquiring about Hammon's status. "How can you not? She's earned the right to be on the stinking list!"
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=3427182
I was just watching her on ESPN....hey...you have to do what needs to be done if you want to make money.
But what do the rest of you think? is she wrong for playing for another nation?
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