I’m not going to pretend I know anything about women’s basketball or the WNBA, so let me start off by saying that I had no idea who Becky Hammon was prior to reading an article about her today on ESPN.com. Apparently, she’s one of the best players on the San Antonio Silver Stars and in the WNBA (she was runner-up in MVP voting last season, but is not good enough to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team as they head to Beijing this summer.
At 31, Hammon could feel her dream of playing in the Olympics and winning a gold medal slipping away, so she decided to take a drastic step. She applied for — and received — Russian citizenship, and will now play for the Russian national team.
This has led to some pretty extreme responses, including some people going so far as to call Hammon a traitor.
While I think labeling Hammon a traitor is completely out of line when we’re just talking about sports here, I definitely do not agree with her actions. I think it’s a joke that someone can secure citizenship in a foreign country without living there or anything and then compete in the Olympics for that country. Hell, I should go start a table tennis team in Tonga and make a bid for the 2012 games.
Call me petty, but I hope Hammon and her Russian comrades miss out on medals altogether.