USA Basketball Only Goes Bronze

Well, it is official. For the first time since NBA players were allowed into th Olympics America did not win the Gold. While I am a believer that the Olympics should go to the best team in the competition, and not to America just because we are there, this is pretty much a disgrace. Why? Because the real reasons for the loss were (1) most NBA players asked to compete refused for amazingly convincing reasons like "I don't wanna," and (2) the team players finally showed up only a few days before competition began. It is time for the NBA to start taking the Olympics more seriously, and to penalize players who refuse to represent their country. I have no problem with Shaq sitting out - he has been on a Golden Dream Team before - but the others have absolutely no excuse.