It is with a five-star roster that the American selection will land at the Tokyo Games this summer. However, some rumors about a recruiting network within the team caused quite a stir not long ago. Asked about the subject, a member of Team USA was frank.
Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal… so many names well known from the NBA circuits, and who will go in pursuit of Olympic gold in Japan. With such a workforce, Gregg Popovich and his staff certainly expected to be able to calmly manage the preparation. Except that it did not go as planned …
Indeed, recent statements how the NBA stars would be recruited from the national team have hit the headlines recently. And the admission of Zach LaVine will do nothing to dispute these rumors … Member of the roster for the Olympics, the back of the Bulls was particularly cash during an interview with NBC Sports :
Zach LaVine on players recruiting each other during Olympics: “Players gonna be players, man. You gonna mingle and talk. But we’re here for one goal, we’re trying to win the gold medal. I think whatever comes from that — friendships, teammates — I think that’s an afterthought..
— Rob Schaefer (@rob_schaef) July 9, 2021
Zach LaVine on players recruiting from each other during the Olympics: Players will always be players, man. They will mingle with the group and talk to each other. But we are here for one purpose, we are trying to win the gold medal. I think everything that comes out of it, friendships, teammates, is secondary.
While some people will be offended by these secret recruiting tactics, ZLV also recalls that the league is in a period when players can afford to act independently of the institutions they represent, and that this kind of rumors are almost A fatality :
You know how the NBA is. Everyone’s talking, and it’s a league of players, so we understand what’s going on. When something happens, it happens.
With star empowerment at its current maximum, it is indeed admitted that basketball players have much more freedom of movement, especially to associate. We experienced this with the arrival of Paul George at the Clippers, a sine qua non for the signing of Kawhi Leonard in 2019. A scenario that we should see more and more frequently in the years to come.
Zach LaVine makes it clear, Team USA is primarily about allowing players to chat with each other. But after years of fighting for their rights, can we blame them?
