Your Black Sports: NBA Championship or Gold Medal?

By Steven A. Gilley
Stevengilley15@aol.com

The U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team recently defeated Spain 118-107 to win the gold medal and redeem themselves after an 8-year hiatus in the Olympic Games. While on their journey to Beijing, the players fielded many questions from reporters and after nearly giving NBA Commissioner David Stern a heart attack after suggesting that they would be willing to leave the NBA to play overseas, many players discussed the importance of winning a gold medal for their country.

Many notable players have publicly stated that winning a gold medal is bigger than winning a NBA championship. Kobe Bryant, a 3-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers said, “I think winning a gold medal is more important because you’re playing for your country. You're not playing for a region or a state or a brand. You are playing for the United States of America.”

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Lebron James echoed his teammate saying, “It's the biggest thing for me ever,” said James. “I got to the NBA Finals, and I thought it was pretty big for me. But winning an NBA championship never would compare to winning a gold medal for my country.”

While the importance of representing your country goes without saying, the glory and life long dream of winning a NBA championship cannot be matched. There is a reason many players have opted not to play in the Olympics over the years and to rest and prepare for a tumultuous and rigorous 82-game season in preparation of competing for an NBA title. Competing in the NBA playoffs and attempting to win 16 games is more of an achievement than the winning the 5 games necessary to win the gold medal.

Many pundits make the argument that any individual can win a NBA title and only elite players get the chance to win a gold medal in the Olympics. While this is true, there is a reason Karl Malone went to play for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004, even though he already has a gold medal when he was apart of the 1992 Dream Team. He knew that winning a ring was missing, despite his hall of fame status already established.

These players are merely being politically correct and making it their duty as role models to stress the importance of the Olympics, which has been forgotten and taken for granted over the years by the players in the U.S. Players take salary cuts, move across the country and diminish their roles in order to win titles. These are sacrifices that are made for winning a ring, in which most players dreamed of winning since they were children.