NBA Stars May Soon Be Eligible for Olympics : U.S. Amateur Body Again Will Vote Against Proposal if FIBA Meets in 1989

Last summer in Barcelona, Spain, representatives to the International Amateur Basketball Federation’s world congress rejected a proposal that would have opened the Summer Olympics to all players, including those from the National Basketball Assn.

Leading the fight against the proposal, along with representatives from the Soviet Union and China, was Bill Wall, executive director of the American Basketball Assn. of the USA (ABAUSA), the national governing body for the sport.

Wall was relieved when the vote was announced, figuring that the issue was dead until the next regularly scheduled world congress in 1990.

But Wall said here at the U.S. Olympic Festival that the International Amateur Basketball Federation (FIBA) probably will have a special congress in 1989 to consider another such proposal.

If it passes, he said, it will enable many NBA players and other professionals to compete in the 1990 World Championships in Argentina and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Wall said that representatives of five European nations met in Milan, Italy, last February and agreed to sponsor an eligibility rule that would open international competitions to all professionals who have in the past competed for their national teams. That would allow the United States to use players such as Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre from the 1980 Olympic team and Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing from the 1984 Olympic team.

FIBA’s central board, which has 24 voting members, will decide whether to call the special congress at its February meeting, but Wall said it is probably inevitable because FIBA President Boris Stankovic of Yugoslavia favors it.

Wall said that his primary concern with liberalizing eligibility rules is that he does not believe the U.S. public will support a team of NBA players in international competition.

“This means we could get our entire 1984 team back,” he said. “I’d like to go to war with those kids. But I don’t think the American public will continue to fund the United States Olympic Committee if we take basketball players to the Olympics who make $300,000 to $1 million a year.”

Wall said he also believes that basketball will lose television exposure in the Olympics if the United States is so dominant that the games no longer are competitive.

“ABC pulled away from most of our games in Los Angeles (in 1984) because the games were wipeouts,” he said. “If it’s no longer a game, will people watch?”

Wall said the United States’ competitive advantage if NBA players are eligible also is the concern of China and the Soviet Union.

“China brought its national team to the United States two years ago,” he said. “They were down by 40 points to the Cleveland Cavaliers at halftime. They also scrimmaged Philadelphia and Boston. They know how good these guys are when they’re serious.

“The Soviets know they can’t beat the NBA, but they know they might beat our college kids on a given night sometime for the gold medal.”

Wall said other countries might also be convinced of the NBA’s superiority if the Milwaukee Bucks win easily in two games next October in Milwaukee against the Soviet national team and a team from Milan.

Then again, it might not make a difference.

“You’d be astonished at some of the countries that will vote for this,” he said. “Some of them don’t mind losing by 80 points if they can watch Larry Bird run by.”

There are a number of other reasons for countries to support open competition.

West Germany, in particular, favors the proposal because it would be able to use several NBA players, including Dallas’ Detlef Schrempf and Christian Welp, a recent Philadelphia 76er draft choice. The Germans concede the gold medal to the United States but believe they could contend for a silver or a bronze with those players.

There also is a feeling among some FIBA representatives that the current rules are hypocritical. They bar players from the NBA, Continental Basketball Assn., U.S. Basketball League and a Philippine league but not players from the Italian League, some of whom are making more than $200,000 a year.

The bottom line, however, appears to be the bottom line.

Wall said that many countries believe fan interest, attendance and television revenues will be increased if NBA players are involved.

Wall once had an ally in the NBA Players Assn., but it has shifted its position. It even sponsored a recent trip to the Canary Islands, where a team that included Dallas’ Rolando Blackman, Sacramento’s Reggie Theus, Golden State’s Purvis Short and Atlanta’s Tree Rollins defeated Spain’s national team by 25 points.

“It’s clear to us players should have the option to play,” said Charles Grantham, the association’s executive vice president. “If Michael Jordan wants to play for the U.S. Olympic team, he should be allowed to do so.

“This is about giving a player as much right and freedom to play the sport as we can.”

NBA owners, of course, might have a different attitude.

“The teams will have to face some issues,” said Gary Bettman, the NBA’s vice president and general counsel. “They would be taking a risk of injuries.”

But Bettman said the NBA is interested in continuing to spread its product throughout the world. It already has television exposure in 40 countries and licensing agreements in Europe, South America and the Far East.

“Basketball is very popular worldwide, and we have the best basketball players in the world,” he said. “It’s only fitting we should be involved.”

Other issues would have to be addressed, such as how much administrative control the NBA would have over the national team, but Georgetown’s John Thompson put the issue into perspective this week from a coaching standpoint. He is the coach of the U.S. team for the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Asked if he would like to have NBA players on his team, he laughed.

“Let me ask you a question,” he said. “If you were coaching, wouldn’t you want Larry Bird?”