Becky Hammon hopes that her decision to play for Russia will not create a stir - NBA Update
Becky Hammon, the San Antonio Silver Stars guard, will once again play for Russian Women basketball team in the 2012 London Olympics. Only this time, she is expecting that it will be less stressful.
Her decision to play for Russian squad in the 2008 Beijing Olympics raised a media storm and questions were raised about her loyalty. Four years down the line, she is hoping that her decision will not create that much of a stir.
“It’s old news,’’ Hammon about her decision to play for Russia. “I played with them in the world championship, European championship hopefully I’ll enjoy it a lot more. By far it was one of the best decisions I ever made and I stand by that, and really look forward to doing it again.’’
In 2008, Hammon failed to get selected for USA squad and eventually boarded the Russian wagon.The criticism that she faced had a lot to do with age old rivalry between Russia and America.
“It’s Russia,” Hammon said. “If it had been a country no one had heard of, no one would have cared.”
Hammon has a dual nationality for both the countries, which gives her the leverage to play for either. She won a bronze medal with the Russian squad in 2008.
Becky had a successful run with the Russian clubs in winter and that has resulted into an Olympics opportunity. With superstar Maria Stepanova out due to a knee injury, she will have to take the extra burden this time.
She sounded confident about her chemistry with the Russian squad;
“I’ve been playing with them... they know me, how I am as a teammate... they chose me because they know I care about the girls”.
Hammon, who is presently playing in WNBA with the San Antonio Silver Stars, has so far averaged 14.0 points, 8.5 assists and 2.5 boards in 2 games. She started her professional career with New York Liberty in 1999 and by 2005 had already scored 2000 points.
She was traded to the Silver Stars in 2007 and since then she has established herself as an essential constituent of her team. She acquired the Russian nationality in 2008 so that she could claim a spot in Russian Olympic roster.
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