Team Nike vs Adidas Brotherhood

Everyone knows that Nike absolutely dominates the US basketball shoe market. Adidas is solidly in second place but it's an extremely distant second, like Phil Mickelson chasing Tiger Woods.

The men's US Olympic team is basically Nike's honor roll: Kobe, Lebron, Kidd, Chris Paul, D Williams, Boozer, Bosh, Carmelo, Tayshaun Prince, Mike Redd- all these guys have Nike contracts. Even Coach K has a shoe deal with Nike. Of the entire team, only Dwyane Wade (Converse, which is now owned by Nike) and Dwight Howard (Adidas) are non-Nike members.

Now look at the players Adidas currently has on its roster: Howard, KG, Duncan, Gilbert Arenas, Chauncey Billups, Tracey McGrady, Josh Smith, Leandro Barbosa and Antawn Jamison.


Get where I'm going with this?

I'm saying fuck the Olympics; nobody gives a shit how many points the US beats Latvia by. I WANNA SEE THE NIKE AND ADIDAS TEAMS GO AT IT.

I wanna see a qualifying series, best of seven, and the winner then gets to represent the USA in the Olympics.

The NBA's always talking about 'transparency.' How about some transparency about how our US team is chosen? Instead of selling the public the ridiculous idea that 12 out of 14 members of our 'national' team just coincidentally happen to be represented by the same conglomerate, why not make the shoe companies battle it out for all the marbles?

This will never happen, of course. Nike wouldn't have the balls. And these millionaire athletes would have to admit that their interest in the tournament was as much financial as patriotic.

Chris Kaman, German For Hire

So Chris Kaman is representing Germany's Olympic team, despite the fact that he's never been there in his life (and probably couldn't find it on a map). Not nearly talented or popular enough to make Team Nike (aka The C.R.E.A.M. Team), Kaman received instant citizenship and a nice chunk of cash to try and bring the gold 'home' to Deutschland.

Lots of Americans are pissed off about this; they consider Kaman a traitor.

(brief pause while I climb up on soapbox)

I don't really give a fuck which country Kaman plays for but I wish everyone would just admit that the entire corporate entity we call Olympic Basketball has become nothing more than 'pay for play.' Think Kobe, Melo and Lebron would be on Team Nike if they weren't getting crazy money for endorsement and TV deals? Furthermore, if the US economy were to completely bottom out, would anyone be surprised to see all of our supposedly devoted US stars bolt for better paying jobs overseas? It's a joke. So Kaman took the cash and 'became' German just like his great-grandfather. Who cares? Sign o' the times, people.