NBA Stars Should Take World Stage : Only Then Can U.S. Become True International Champion

The International Basketball Federation has voted to allow professional players to compete in world championship tournaments and the Olympic Games. However, if the preliminary response is any indication, there isn’t about to be a rush of American pros to the banner of their country.

Few Americans care very much about world competitions and only pretend to have a certain level of interest in the Olympics. Therefore, it’s not surprising that many NBA players quoted after the FIBA decision indicated summer vacation was more enticing to them than a possible gold medal.

America’s sports insularity is deeply ingrained. We’re the country that likes to call our baseball playoffs the “World Series” and proclaim teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers “world champions.” Of course, they’re not. At the moment, the Soviet Union is the world basketball champion; the Lakers won the National Basketball Assn. playoffs, not the Olympic Games.

Most Americans, however, think the Los Angeles Dodgers, not the U.S. Olympic team, and the Lakers, not the Soviets, are the best baseball and basketball teams in the world. The trouble is that the United States had better be willing to put its athletes where its mouth is or such claims will become increasingly invalid.

The problem doesn’t lie only with the athletes. One can understand why the top NBA stars aren’t enamored with spending the summer of 1992 in Barcelona, Spain, immediately after playoffs that drag on until late June. The pressure to win in the NBA is fueled by big contracts and a public that loves winners but shuns losers.

The recent world hockey championship in Stockholm, Sweden, also serves as an example of how we regard championship tournaments. You couldn’t see any of the American games on television, and finding the daily scores sometimes was a chore.

That the Stockholm show was largely ignored wasn’t surprising. The “real” hockey playoffs are the Stanley Cup as far as we’re concerned. The National Hockey League is no different from baseball and basketball; even repeated losses to Soviet clubs and the national team haven’t stopped North Americans from thinking the Stanley Cup winner is really something more than the champion of a particular league.

Our failure to take world championships seriously spills over into other, less visible sports. Consider how difficult it is for the U.S. Olympic Committee to put together effective development programs in volleyball, gymnastics, swimming or soccer, all high-profile sports elsewhere in the world but deep in the American shadows.

It would clearly help the USOC if our best players represented America in the more visible tournaments, because it would focus attention on world events. Until we take the world basketball and hockey championships seriously, one cannot expect the public to be very excited about anything else.

Ultimately, then, what the NBA players do with regard to Barcelona in 1992 has a more wide-ranging impact than it might seem. One would hope the league will take some steps to encourage its players to participate. Some adjustments are necessary:

--The 1991-92 NBA season should be started a month earlier so that the playoffs could finish in May. Yes, there might be slight damage to TV ratings for the finals, but if the league and the televising network work together, such losses can be minimal.

--Players on the Olympic team should not have to report to training camp for the 1992-93 season until they have had a minimum of eight weeks of vacation. Because they would have maintained peak fitness for the Olympics, missing a couple of weeks of the preseason grind shouldn’t be a problem.

--The NBA and USOC should hammer out an insurance program that protects both the clubs and players. There will always be risk when high-priced talent plays internationally. It should be covered thoughtfully.

The United States, then, could put its best basketball foot forward. Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing ought to be playing in the 1992 Olympics. Only a change in attitude on the part of many parties, however, will bring that about.