Becky Hammon who is a native of South Dakota and an All American Girl who plays for the WNBA [Women’s National Basketball Association] has been called a traitor. The reason is that she is playing for the Russian Women’s Basketball Team during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The accuser is Anne Donovan who is the coach of the USA Women’s Basketball Team.

I would like to defend the decision of Becky Hammon to play in the Olympics for Russia. The Olympics is about participating in sports without the politics and ideologies ruining the game. It is unfortunate that a group of people have to ruin what should be the historical sporting event for the year 2008. It is also fashionable in this ever globalizing world that players can cross frontiers and play for other teams without sacrificing their loyalty to their country.

I would also like to take advantage and criticize some of the members of sports associations in America who actually sign talent from other countries and resolve their paperwork while the local talent in America remains on the sidelines. The United States of America accepts sports personalities from other countries yet Anne Donovan appears to practice what is sheer hypocrisy. The United States Women Basketball Team should take a look at their way of recruiting their athletes for the Olympics. After all, it is not fair that the best in the majority of cases are not accepted or are sidelined.

It is not the fault of Becky Hammon that she wants to play basketball for the Olympics. It is her right and if a team has signed her to a contract to play then it would be good for her and for the United States of America as a whole. Maybe the Anne Donovan’s of the day may get away with their comments because of the envy they carry within them but in the end, Becky Hammon will carry the day.

I would like to predict that in five decades when the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics is in the history book, Becky Hammon will be remembered in a stamp in the United States Postal Service for her services to basketball regardless of whether she played in the United States of America or the Russian Federation.

It is with this article and comments that I would like to tell the Anne Donovan’s in the United States Women Basketball Society that the Cold War is over, the Olympics is a Sporting Event, and Becky Hammon is a jewel that the United States did not appreciate. I also wish Becky Hammon the best in her endeavors.