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WNBA's Becky Hammon Talks About Her Russian Olympic Experience

Posted: Sep 3rd 2008 12:30PM by Elie Seckbach (author feed)
Filed under: Women's Sports, FanHouse TV, The Word

6 COMMENTS

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

In this exclusive video we talk to the San Antonio Silver Stars' Becky Hammon. The American WNBA star reflects on her decision to play for Russia during the Olympics, a move some people called unpatriotic. We also talk to her teammates and hear what they have to say about Hammon's decision. You also might be surprised to hear just what San Antonio's Sandora Irvin thinks about Hammon's future.


Youtube link.

WNBA's Becky Hammon Talks About Her Russian Olympic Experience

Posted: Sep 3rd 2008 12:30PM by Elie Seckbach (author feed)
Filed under: WNBA, NBA Videos, USA Basketball

0 COMMENTS

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

In this exclusive video we talk to the San Antonio Silver Stars' Becky Hammon. The American WNBA star reflects on her decision to play for Russia during the Olympics, a move some people called unpatriotic. We also talk to her teammates and hear what they have to say about Hammon's decision. You also might be surprised to hear just what San Antonio's Sandora Irvin thinks about Hammon's future.


Youtube link.

Attractive Olympian: Basketball Player and Alleged Traitor Becky Hammon

Posted: Jun 24th 2008 6:15PM by Matt Ufford (author feed)
Filed under: Women's Sports, Beijing, Attractive Olympians

9 COMMENTS
Olympic athletes often don't get paid to do anything other than look good. In that vein, Attractive Olympians handicaps which athletes may rake in endorsement deals after the Olympics.

Becky Hammon just wants to be an Olympian -- so badly that she'll use her dual citizenship this summer as a member of the Russian national team, an act that has led some to call her a traitor.

Quick history: Despite being an All-America at Colorado State, Becky Hammon was shunned at the 1999 WNBA draft. She joined the New York Liberty as a free agent, where she had an immediate impact off the bench but spent four years backing up Teresa Weatherspoon. After a breakout season in 2003, she was left off the Athens squad in 2004. In 2007, she was the runner-up in the WNBA MVP vote, yet her invitation to try out for the 2008 U.S. Olympic team was less than sincere.

Personally, if I'd been snubbed by one country that much, I might consider going where I felt appreciated, too -- her Russian club, CSKA Moscow, pays her in the seven figures, and she was a lock for the Olympic team there.

But let's take a step back from the politics involved and ask something more superficial: how does this dilemma affect her sex appeal? Will this affect her potential sponsorships? Might Americans actually cheer for a Russian team? Is "Becky" an acceptable Russian name? None of these answers -- and more! -- after the jump.
Continue Reading Attractive Olympian: Basketball Player and Alleged Traitor Becky Hammon

American Becky Hammon Called 'Traitor' for Representing Russia at the Olympics

Posted: Jun 15th 2008 9:55AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Women's Sports, USA

48 COMMENTS
Becky Hammon is an American who plays for the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars. She's also going to play in the Olympics in Beijing -- but not for Team USA.

Instead, Hammon will play for Russia's Olympic basketball team. Hammon has no Russian ancestry, but she has played professionally in Russia, and she became a Russian citizen to aid her basketball career. In the eyes of the International Olympic Committee, that's good enough for her to play for Russia.

That doesn't sit well with some in this country. During a CNN interview, Team USA women's basketball coach Anne Donovan referred to Hammon as a "traitor." Similar sentiments were expressed today on ESPN's Outside the Lines.

But that's silly. This isn't war, it's basketball. Hammon wanted to be an Olympian, she wasn't chosen for the American team, and so she looked elsewhere. People who don't like the rules that allow that can blame the IOC, but blaming Hammon for wanting to play on her sport's biggest stage is wrong.

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