Originally Posted by
UrinalCake
Anyone else catch the Stern interview on the Colin Cowherd show this morning? He was asked about a number of topics, and at one point said they would consider going to the model that they use in soccer and only allow players 23 and under to compete. I'm not entirely sure what the rationale for this is (didn't catch the whole interview), nor did I hear him say if this would open the door to college players getting a shot. At that point in the discussion they had been talking about all of the injuries this season and whether the compressed schedule had anything to do with it, and that led to a discussion of guys who also play in the Olympics, and then he brought up the under 23 idea. So maybe he thinks younger guys can handle playing the extra games.
Going back a little, when professional athletes were first allowed to compete in the Olympics, he said there was a lot of discussion about what to do with NBA players. The international players in the NBA were going to be playing for their home countries, and it would be hard to stop them from doing so, so it wouldn't make sense to only prevent American NBA players from playing for the USA. I wonder if this will be a similar issue moving forward if the under-23 rule comes into play. NBA players who are over 23 could still play for other countries, presumably. I guess it depends if it's an NBA rule or a USA Basketball rule. And does the NBA have any jurisdiction over players who play for different countries, unless it's specifically included in their contract?