NBA players should show patriotism, go to Games

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Soviet tanks already had rumbled into Afghanistan, dropping the Cold War's temperature a few more degrees.

It was 1980, the Olympics were to be in Moscow and U.S. athletes trained as if they believed the Games would be played. They chased their dreams, knowing that a president was about to dash them.

In Varna, Bulgaria, that year, 18-year-old Anne Donovan was with her U.S. teammates preparing for the women's Olympic basketball qualifying tournament, understanding that even though they were certain to qualify, President Jimmy Carter was preparing the boycott.

The players practiced three times a day, as if their hard work might help convince the president to change his mind.

"The coaches (Sue Gunter and Pat Summitt) were killing us," said Donovan, now coach of the Seattle Storm. "They worked our booties off. And all the time we practiced, we knew it was very likely we would not be competing in the Olympics. It was a bizarre atmosphere."

They qualified for the 1980 Games, but Carter formally announced the boycott.

They were an Olympic team with no Olympic Games.

"We kept holding out hope," Donovan said. "We couldn't have gone through the process without some small hope that maybe it would work out. Because I was so young and because I didn't really think I was going to make the team, the whole thing was kind of a blur. ... The idea was that if we weren't going, we wanted to show the Russians that they were getting off easily without us in the Olympics.

"But I remember the amount of time the older players had put into making the team. And how worried they were that they weren't going to get the opportunity. It seemed so unfair to them. These were great players like Carol Blazejowski, and they weren't going to get the chance to showcase their talents. It seemed incredibly unfair."

Twenty-four years later, politics and sports still are a lethal mix. Now, the United States is occupying Afghanistan. And there is a new, shadowy threat to the 2004 Olympics.

Twenty-four years later the very real threat of terror is causing some NBA players to reconsider their invitations to Athens this summer.

The Sonics' Ray Allen, an expectant father, already has turned down the Olympic invitation. But Allen also was one of the first U.S. players to express concerns over security in Greece.

The list of players who won't be going, or are considering not going continues to grow — Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone, Kenyon Martin and Kobe Bryant, who, of course, has larger issues.

Being an Olympian, for many NBA players, isn't what it used to be.

"For me, it's still the ultimate as an athlete," said Donovan, who was lucky enough to win gold medals with the 1984 and '88 Olympic teams. "And I would never pass on it."

But for many NBA players it is an add-on to an already long season. It is another month on the road. And this year, in Athens, it is a security risk many of them are disinclined to take.

"It's not for me to judge anyone else's concerns," said Donovan, who will be an assistant coach for this year's women's team. "I think if the players have valid reasons to be concerned about their safety then they shouldn't go. But I was watching 'SportsCenter' the other night and (New Jersey's) Richard Jefferson was talking about his invitation to be on the team. I was blown away by his patriotism and his sense of honor.

"They asked him what would mean more to him, an NBA title or a gold medal and he didn't miss a beat, saying the gold medal. That's what it's all about. There has to be that kind of passion and that kind of pride about it. You've got to believe in it that deeply, or it's not worth it to go."

Players can disagree with their president. They can be angry at the way the war in Iraq has been handled. Angry that we ever even went to war.

But the best thing they can do is go to Athens and show the world that the prison abuses and the United States' political swagger aren't representative of the majority of Americans.

They can play with dignity and win with grace. Going to Athens should be worth the risk.

"Going to Athens isn't even close to what the troops are doing in Iraq," Donovan said. "It's night and day. We're talking about games, and they're involved in life and death.

"But I think this Olympics can be special. The United States is looking for something to make it feel good. And this is an opportunity to feel proud and strong."

It was an opportunity denied all Olympic athletes in 1980. And every NBA player who has been invited to Greece should think about what was taken away from those athletes and consider the good they can do for themselves, for their country and for the world this summer.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com