The London Summer Olympics are about two months away and the United States basketball team is poised for gold.
However, recent controversy has surrounded the USA basketball team involving Dwyane Wade, star guard of the Miami Heat, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
Wade made the following contentious comments on ESPN: “It’s a lot of things you do for the Olympics — a lot of jerseys you sell. We play the whole summer. I do think guys should be compensated. Just like I think college players should be compensated as well. Unfortunately, it’s not there. But I think it should be something, you know, there for it.”
When Cuban ripped the Olympics, it was not a surprise. He is one of the most outspoken men in the sports world.
In an interview with Fox Sports, Cuban said: “If you look up stupid in the dictionary you see a picture of the USA Dream Team playing for free for corporate America, so the U.S. Olympic Committee can make billions of dollars. So if you come up with something that you own that you can give to me for free so I can make billions of dollars, I want it.”
This quote may be one of his worst. Cuban needs to shut his mouth and hope his team can win a few games in the playoffs.
Wade rants about being compensated for being on Team USA, but what he needs to realize is being an Olympian is the compensation. Only 20 players are selected to try out for the Olympic basketball team; the final roster only has 12 players and six alternatives. It’s a privilege to be on Team USA. Athletes battle for the honor to represent their countries.
His comments may be wrong, but they are reasonable. This NBA season was shortened to 66 games, due to the lockout of the off-season, so games were crammed into the same schedule as the usual 82-game season. The gold-medal Olympic game, scheduled for Aug. 12, is only a month before many NBA players resume working out to get ready for training camp in September or early October.
Wade argues the players deserve more money. Wade is being paid $12 million as a Nike brand representative a year, to go along with his six-year, $107.5 million contract with the Miami Heat. Hopefully, that’s enough of a chunk of change to make him happy. The Olympic Committee also gives players of the winning team $25,000 each and—let’s be honest—if Team USA doesn’t win gold, it will be one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history.
Neither the International nor the U.S. Olympic Committee give athletes a playing fee. Some athletes have agents who will help them get sponsorships and endorsement deals. The U.S. basketball team players all have brands that sponsor them and many have sponsors and endorsement deals. If none of the other athletes are being paid, then the U.S. basketball team is the last team that should be paid, and instead members should consider sharing their wealth with other athletes. After seeing how his comments stirred controversy, Wade went to Twitter to apologize.
“BUT my love 4 the game & pride 4 USA motivates me more than any $$$ amount. I repped my country in 2004 when we won the bronze medal and stood proudly to receive our gold medal in 2008 in Beijing. It’s always been an honor for me to be a part of the USA Olympic family…and I’m looking forward to doing it again in London this summer.”
The Olympics should have the best athletes representing their country to the fullest. This is a privilege, not a paycheck.