Age Limit For Olympic Hoops Should Be Mutual
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By DERON SNYDER
A horde of media members swarmed his USA Basketball teammates as Anthony Davis sauntered onto the court Sunday at George Washington University. Kobe Bryant was surrounded on one end of the bench, with Kevin Durant and LeBron James fielding questions a few seats away. On the floor, there were clusters of reporters around Tyson Chandler and Chris Paul.
Davis walked past the scorer’s table and sat at the far bench, by himself. The baby of the bunch at 19, he could be USA Basketball’s face of the future in two ways — as a player on multiple Olympic teams or the prototype for subsequent teams.
Once the London Games end, presumably with another gold medal from the U.S. men’s basketball team, a new era might begin. Commissioner David Stern has hinted at implementing a 23-and-under age-limit for NBA players in future Olympics. That wouldn’t necessarily eliminate Davis from consideration in 2016, but it would reduce the number of players who ever compete in the Games and create more one-and-done Olympians.
James and Carmelo Anthony are participating in their third Olympics, the same number Dwyane Wade would have if he weren’t injured. This will be Durant’s first and last Olympics if the rules are changed, a prospect he opposes adamantly.
