Becky Hammon Is Hot...

 

 

 

Originally Posted June 21, 2008

 

 

.. Maybe not "Hollywood" hot, but if you saw her walking through the mall, you'd probably give her a second look. I'd give her a third or fourth myself. But who is she?

Well you can probably tell from the photo above, she is a professional basketball player. Now I'm not a big fan of the WNBA, but I don't have a big problem with it either. I actually watch games from time to time if Hammon or the Seattle Storm, with cuties Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson are involved. I watch mostly because the chicks are easy on the eyes, but I won't deny most of them can really play. Obviously the level of talent and athleticism is just a step up above that of a mediocre High School boys game, but the ladies know the game and play it the way it was designed to be played: As a team game. The amount of entertainment that can be derived from basketball sans alley-oops is open to debate, and I'm not going to use this post to give my two cents on that subject.

I'm actually going back to Becky Hammon as an individual here.

Hammon is a great female basketball player. Last season she averaged just shy of 19 pts. and 5 assists per game and finished second in league MVP voting. Yet, despite her impressive play, she was not invited to try-out for the USA Olympic team. Assuming she's not good enough to be on the team (which seems un-frickin'-likely), she apparently wasn't even good enough to be one of the 23 invitees for try-outs. Was there some kind of conspiracy? Do the coaches of the Olympic team have a beef with Hammon? I have no clue. I don't keep up with the sport nearly well enough to know, but something about it certainly seems fishy. Either way, once it was clear she wouldn't be making the team, she started to seek alternative ways to Beijing.

Now it's important to understand that for female basketball players growing up pre-1997 (before the WNBA came about), the Olympic games were the ultimate goal. Playing professionally was only an option if you wanted to do it overseas (which Hammon and many other players still do in the WNBA's offseason). But you could still play for the Red, White, and Blue. With Hammon's dreams of doing so dashed, she applied for dual citizenship in Russia, where she plays in the offseason. As a dual citizen, she can play for the Russian national team. And she plans to. Much to the chagrin of many a flag-waver. I really don't see the problem here. Would people care if she was playing for Canada, or Italy? It not 1982, people. The commie issue is no longer an issue at all (in Russia, anyway). She was rejected by the US team, but she still has a chance to live her dream of playing in the Olympic games. I say go for it. If it ends up Russia/USA in the gold medal game (which many think it could), it will make for plenty of drama, maybe even enough to have me watching it.