LeBron James, Kobe Bryant lead Olympic team

The real question is not whether this team can win -- they can -- but will they represent the United States with dignity and decorum, unlike some of their previous U.S. team members.

Yes I think this team will be classy. I am excited I mean you could have 3 amazing distributors on the floor at once in kidd bryant and james should be fun to watch i just hope they dont get cocky and think that they are just going to walk through everyone it will not be easy but I like this team a lot.

They represent the rest of the NBA... embarrasing gangbangers that get too much money to play mediocre basketball. They are no match for the teams of the 80s and 90s with Jordan, et al.

at least Kobe might win something this year..

I hope they lose in the first round!
Bring back college students. I don't watch the NBA - why would I watch the same mutants in the Olympics.
Herb Brooks said it best - Dream Teams - when they let the pro's start playing - they took the dream away.
The greatest moment in sports history was the 1980 Miracle on Ice.
Too bad they've made it so it can never happen again! Boycott the games!

ChgoMomma wrote:

They represent the rest of the NBA... embarrasing gangbangers that get too much money to play mediocre basketball. They are no match for the teams of the 80s and 90s with Jordan, et al.

What is the point of that dumb statement? The current group of Olympic athletes are not in gangs or play bad basketball. You appear to be a envious jerk who bags on athletes because you have not reached your potential. Just because a few guys have chosen to make bad decisions is not representative of the entire league.
I loved watching the 1992 Dream Team with Jordan, Bird and Co. But to make those statements shows no class at all.

noneoftheabove wrote:

I hope they lose in the first round!
Bring back college students. I don't watch the NBA - why would I watch the same mutants in the Olympics.
Herb Brooks said it best - Dream Teams - when they let the pro's start playing - they took the dream away.
The greatest moment in sports history was the 1980 Miracle on Ice.
Too bad they've made it so it can never happen again! Boycott the games!

What about the international NBA players who represent their country in the Olympics? Are you going to boycott them too?

Who is responsible for taking the AMATEUR aspect out of the Olympics. Watching overpaid professionals winning gold medals that are supposed to be for the best amateurs (probably college players) is a travesty.

From noneoftheabove:

"I hope they lose in the first round!
Bring back college students. I don't watch the NBA - why would I watch the same mutants in the Olympics.
Herb Brooks said it best - Dream Teams - when they let the pro's start playing - they took the dream away.
The greatest moment in sports history was the 1980 Miracle on Ice.
Too bad they've made it so it can never happen again! Boycott the games!"

Amen and ditto!!

Olympic old school wrote:

Who is responsible for taking the AMATEUR aspect out of the Olympics. Watching overpaid professionals winning gold medals that are supposed to be for the best amateurs (probably college players) is a travesty.

Well said !!! Yes I know that Germany and the whole "Eastern Block" use to use (still does) professional athletes way before "The Dream Team", but I still don't think it's right in either case. Go back to the amateurs.

No one is considered an amature athlete these day with the year round training and events the athletes participate in. I find these comments totally Ozzie Gullien-like.

I'm tired of being at the receiving end of stupid comments like the one "Darrell" made just now. I read this paper to relax a little, and all I get is crap from stupid people! I played over 15 years in the major leagues, I represented the White Sox with honor on the field as a player and I helped the team win a championship as a manager! Has someone else done that in Chicago before me? Of course not! Is it because I'm from Venezuela and these are mostly racist comments from racist people? I wonder sometimes.

Where's Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen?

Who really cares? do the players care? They will have a tough time playing with their blakberry's etc in the People's Republic.

Kobe may not be allowed into China because of that incident in Colorado.
Here's where it ended.
Before the case was scheduled to go to trial, Faber filed a civil lawsuit against Bryant over the incident.After the case was dismissed the two sides ultimately settled that lawsuit, with the specific terms of the settlement being undisclosed to the public. One word GUILTY !

darrell wrote:

No one is considered an amature athlete these day with the year round training and events the athletes participate in. I find these comments totally Ozzie Gullien-like.

Being an amateur means you do it WITHOUT PAY. An athlete may spend every waking hour training for her/his sport but it is done for the LOVE OF IT.(That's where the "ama" in amateur comes from, the latin for amore, to love.)

Its no wonder that the gold medal winning US Women's Olympic Gymnastics team made it into the hall of fame before the 1992 ALL NBA-PRO US olympic basketball team. The girls were highly competitive AMATEURs. The basketball team were PROs on a holiday

I gave up NBA watching after Micheal retired. There is no class left in the game, only street thug goons. With the taint of steriods and other crap surrounding the Olympics, I gave up watching that too. I certainly hope Chicago doesn't "get selected" as it will cost us taxpayers millions and clog our streets for months.

Someone should alert Kobe that this is a "TEAM" He is not supposed to play 1 - on - 5.

The AP reported that 'Phoneix's Amare Stoudamire' wouldn't play, I found that hilarious because he is on the Heat. But regardless, D. Wade will probably ride the bench on the Olympic team come in and get 10-12 points. Kobe is going to be going for team's throats after that Finals loss. Also, I hope the Bulls can manage a trade for Kobe again. We can do it, sign and trade Gordon, along with Hinrich, Nocioni, and Hughes. If they don't want Hinrich, give them the rights to Rose and take back Nocioni. It can be done Paxson, and then the year after Kobe arrives Phil will be out of his contract, just in time to replace Del Negro who did a good job getting us to the conference finals in Kobe's first year here. Listen to me Paxson!

C'mon Paxson pay attention and listen to what I just said! Kobe in Chicago = Dynasty for 5-6 years with our current talent behind him! Pop the Bubbly for the cubbies! and then the bullies again ! Pax listen to me!