>I know I already replied to this, but I was thinking about it some more, and I just wanted to remind you that Becky Hammon only went to play for Russia because it was her dream to play in the Olympics and the American team snubbed her. She was the runner up for the MVP in the WNBA, but for whatever oddball reason, the people who choose the American players did not choose her. After she announced she would play for Russia to fulfill her dream, the American team suddenly came up with an invite to try out. But the underlying understanding was that she wasn't going to be allowed to make the team. So she ignored them, after which they started calling her a traitor. Stupid nonsense. As she said, her patriotism isn't defined by 94 feet of hardwood.

I was surprised to learn this:

Hammon has no ancestral ties to Russia, but under Russian league rules, she was able to obtain a passport and become a naturalized citizen because she had never appeared for another country in a FIBA-sanctioned event. In other words, she was still eligible to compete for Russia internationally

And this comment was interesting:

"It's interesting that the Russian government decided this was acceptable," Cound said. "I don't look at it as criticism of Becky as much as a country in which winning is so important that they want to have a non-Russian on the team. It comes down to a simple question: What does winning a gold medal mean if it's an American who wins it for you?"

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/news/story?id=3336490