Why is it fair for Olympic Basketball players to be professsionals?

Question

In Olympic Boxing, you have to be a non-pro amateur but in basketball USA players like Kobe LaBrawn and Anthony are representing the U.S.

Answer 1

Saves Them A Whole lot Of Time Who Wants To Search For Good Players When You Have A Bunch Of Them In One League

Answer 2

Umm..how can you exclude any players.  Who cares if they are professionals?  Aint that the point?  I dont wanna see amatuers against amatuers.

I wanna see Michael Phelps in swimming.  Hes a pro, should we exclude him from any swimming events?

Players are players, it raises the bar, as one answer have stated.  Its good for the Olympics now and for the Olympics for the future.

Answer 3

The US Olympic basketball team has won the gold since the 1936 Berlin Olympics. They lost in 1972 to the Soviets in a controversial game. regained gold in Montreal and LA, but finished a distant third in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. I think this prompted Olympic officials to finally admit professional basketball players in 1992, and what happened, as we all know is the formation of the best team assembled in sports history - the dream team.  The US again won the gold in 96 and 2000 but again slipped to third behind Argentina and Italy in the last Olympics in Athens.  This year, they fielded what many experts say is a team second only to the dream team in terms of talent. I think they'll get the gold again.  

Answer 4

Yeah, but there are a lot of NBA professionals playing on other teams too!! I know Germany has a few, Yua Ming is playin for china, There are americans playing on the Austian team i think.  Its about fair, except for the no-pro rule in other sports.  But when you look at boxing... olympic boxing is WAY different than standard ring boxing.  That point per strike c**p vs. style and actual strategy. PISH!

Answer 5

In my opinion it is not necessarily 100 percent fair! Even though other countries have NBA professionals on their team, the USA is still way loaded with talent! But I like how they let the professionals play in the olympics! Because it raises the level of play across the entire world! The entire world is becoming better at basketball because now they have to live up to a higher standard! And this has made baskeball players better and more informed about the sport across the whole world!