Dikembe Mutombo all for imposing age limit on players making it to Olympic basketball – NBA News
Former NBA star centre Dikembe Mutombo has backed the idea of putting an age limit on the players representing their countries in basketball at the Olympics.
The legendary NBA player believes that such a move will help give younger players a chance to compete at the highest level and that eventually will be better for the game.
He was present at an NBA youth training camp in Tokyo, and also said that the European teams have the tendency of playing with the same squad for long periods of time.
“Young players in Europe have been held back," said the 45 year old veteran.
The NBA last month proposed to not send their top players to the Olympics after 2012 and instead give the youngsters a chance. The proposal was made in light of many teams and team owners complaining that players on their roster
risked facing injuries or burning out while competing for the Olympics, which could turn out to be a huge loss for the team, both financially as well as non financially.
"It's no good for our sport. You watch the NBA All-Stars game every year. We don't have the same players every year,” added Mutombo.
The top stars of the U.S National teams have always been a source of attraction towards Olympics basketball ever since the U.S.A won the gold medal in Barcelona in 1992 with what was later dubbed as the “Dream Team”.
Fans from all over the world follow the NBA and the top basketball players in the American league. Their presence in the Olympics gives the game more exposure, popularity and media attention.
In the most recent of incidents where teams and players have been at odds about competing in the Olympics, the Chicago Bulls are not happy with the decision of their star forward Luol Deng to compete in the London Olympics this
summer. Deng is a British national and looks forwards towards playing for his home country in front of home crowd.
The Bulls, however, have been trying to convince Deng to opt out of the summer games. Deng has a wrist injury which requires surgery and if he decides to compete in the Olympics, his surgery will be delayed till after the games
which could see him missing the first 2-3 months of action in the next season. According to the rules of the CBA, teams cannot force their players to miss the Olympics.
Issues like these have led to the NBA trying to put in an age restriction on the players who make the U.S squad for the Olympics. Mutombo did not get the opportunity to compete in the Olympics but is a celebrated player in the
NBA, winning the defensive player of the year title four times.
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