I’m a fan (insofar as a jaded journalist can be such a thing). I’ve admired your persistence, your amazing ability to extract every ounce out of your talent, your basketball IQ, and your constant improvement in your time in the league.
I’ve also felt you got the shaft from USA Basketball, which for whatever reason has anointed Sue Bird as the National Team’s point guard, and never really given you a chance to prove you can excel on the international scene, just as you’ve excelled everywhere else. And you outplayed Bird head-to-head last year, and overall (more turnovers, yes, but more free throws). Still, the call, when it finally came, came late, and was as much an insult as a compliment.
You’ve earned some money, yes, but it could have been more. Take Bird, who got big money from day one, while you were an undrafted free agent. Sure, they pay you now, but for years you got less than you deserved, not only in cash but in respect. And yes, as a girl from South Dakota and Colorado State who never was given a thing, never even given a chance to be great, you’ve been underestimated and overlooked. In short, you’ve got a right to that chip on your shoulder. You’ve got a right to stick to the man, or woman, in this case.
But even with all that, you really need to re-think this idea of playing for the
Russian National Team at the Olympics. It’s just not a good idea, even though
they‘re paying you a lot of money, and even though it‘s the only way you get to
the Olympics you deserve to be in.
Think about it. What if you hit a game-winning three to knock America out of a
chance for a gold medal? How do you think that will play in Peoria? Or Fort
Collins? Or South Dakota? Or San Antonio or New York or Indianapolis or
Washington D.C.?
Just stop for a minute or two and consider how the fans will feel. Or better yet, think how you would feel if LeBron James dunked over Kobe Bryant to give Spain the gold medal? How would you react the next time you went to an NBA arena and saw James play? Do you think you would cheer him for his marvelous ability? Or would you boo him from the bottom of your patriotic soul?
Sure, you’ve been the girl next door since you broke into the league, everybody’s underdog. Everyone wanted the pale 5-6 woman who looked like the starting guard on the local high school team to find a way to succeed. They cheered every long three, and every unlikely foray to the hoop. They marveled as you worked your way up from seldom-used practice fodder to starter to all-star. In short, they loved you.
But Becky, they aren’t going to love if you play for Russia. They won’t even like you -- in fact, they’ll start to hate you. It’s wonderful that Vladimir Putin went out of his way to make you a Russian citizen, but that’s not going to count for much when you play in Chicago.
And those who understand realize that Russian citizenship means you can make
much more money in Europe because you won’t count as an American, on the
roster, or on the court, but how much is much more? Will you earn $200,000 more in your career? A million? Either number is pretty big, but when you’re 50,
will it offset the fact that you will only be known as the American who played for
Russia? When, as is inevitable, Russian and American interests collide on the world stage in 2030 or whenever, how will folks on the street look at you? What will they think about you?
I think you know the answer, and I think you know, in your heart, that playing for Russia is a mistake. You certainly have every right to do as you see fit, to avenge yourself on the people at USA Basketball who ignored you for so long, to take the money that is rightfully yours, but having the right doesn’t make it right. And I think you know that.
So Becky, please reconsider. Please tell the Russians you’ve got a pulled hamstring, or that you’ve had second thoughts, or that your dog is dying back
home. Give them back the money, if you have to, and play in Italy next winter.
Do whatever it takes before you change your life in ways you just haven’t yet
grasped.
Of course, you’ve thought of many of these things, and I’m sure you’ve heard them from your friends and family. And though you wouldn’t recognize me if I knocked over your cup of coffee at Starbuck’s, but trust me on this: The basketball world loves you now, and for good reason, but that world will turn on you more quickly than a Deanna Nolan burst to the basket when you march onto the track for the opening ceremonies in Beijing.
And it will turn on you forever, which as Prince (an unpopular figure himself)
pointed out is a mighty long time.
Don’t do it, Becky. In the end, it won’t be worth it, no matter how much fatter your bank account gets, and no matter how satisfying it is to play in the Olympics.
Please don’t do it.
Your fan,
Clay Kallam