LAS VEGAS—If Amare Stoudemire wasn’t preparing for the FIBA Americas championship, he might be far from a basketball court this week.
“Right now, I’d probably just be on a vacation with my family,” the All-Star center said.
LeBron James said he would probably be back home “working out and playing video games all day.”
But both NBA stars are in Vegas, along with the rest of Team USA, practicing for the tournament that begins next week. The U.S. will be among 10 teams competing for two spots in the 2008 Olympics.
The tourney could be viewed as punishment for finishing third in last year’s world championships in Japan, behind champion Spain and Greece. Had the U.S. defeated the underdog Greeks in the semifinals, it wouldn’t be preparing to play 10 games in 12 days beginning Aug. 22.
Of course, it could have been worse: the tourney was originally scheduled to be held in Venezuela, which lost the bid for financial reasons.
Las Vegas is a popular destination for NBA players, but perhaps not in the summer, with temperatures soaring over 100 degrees each day since training camp opened. Players also were in town for a mini-camp in July.
“We know we’ve got to qualify, so this is a business trip,” Milwaukee guard Michael Redd said. “We’re not just out here to enjoy Vegas. We realize our backs are against the wall a little bit.”
While many players would probably rather be somewhere else, there’s been little grumbling.
Denver forward Carmelo Anthony said “it would have been an easier summer” if the U.S. had already qualified.
“But who’s to say that everybody would be doing the same thing this summer, working out and getting better?” he said. “I’m kind of glad we’re here this summer.”
When USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo took over in 2005, he asked players for an unprecedented three-year commitment that started last year and will last through Beijing next August. Even if the U.S. had qualified for the Olympics, the team still would have gathered this summer. But it wouldn’t have had to prepare for a major tournament.
“We knew we were coming back this summer,” Colangelo said. “We didn’t realize we were going to have to compete and play in the Tournament of the Americas, but that’s the way it is.”
James said he hasn’t regretted making the commitment.
“We’re sacrificing a lot of our time, and a lot of our families’ time to be here,” the Cleveland star said. “But at the same time, it’s a privilege for me and an honor to be part of the USA team.”
Coach Mike Krzyzewski has tried to put a positive spin on playing in the FIBA Americas tourney. He’s talked about the chance for players and coaches to strengthen their relationships heading into the Olympic year. The tournament also gives the coaching staff a chance to tinker with rotations and work newcomers such as Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups into the mix in live games.
“You can’t have them for too long because it’s still not their day job,” Krzyzewski said. “You have to respect that. But they’ve been terrific.
“Would we have liked to have won (the world championship)? Obviously,” Krzyzewski said. “But we would never have been able to simulate this type of environment, to play 10 games. Again, if we lose that semifinal game on Sept. 1, I might not be saying that.”
That would be a staggering upset. The U.S. is 26-0 all-time in FIBA Americas qualifying.
The Americans play the Virgin Islands on Aug. 23; the U.S. won the only other meeting between the countries 113-55 in 2003. The U.S. has won its four meetings with Canada, another preliminary round opponent, by an average of 36 points.
In the unlikely event the U.S. doesn’t reach the final, it can still earn an Olympic berth in another qualifier next summer by finishing third, fourth or fifth.
That may be why training camp has had a laid-back feel this week. For starters, it’s being held in the gymnasium at Valley High School, a few miles from the Strip.
High above the court, Greg Maddux’s red No. 31 jersey hangs in the Valley Hall of Fame; the future four-time Cy Young Award winner graduated in 1984.
On the first day of camp, mimeographed sheets taped to the doors advertised tryouts for the boy’s soccer team.
“It brings back memories,” said Seattle rookie Kevin Durant, who played for Montrose Christian in Rockville, Md., in 2006. “Every high school gym is hot. This is exactly what a high school environment looks like. I think it brings back memories to everyone, especially guys who came out of high school like LeBron, Kobe and Amare.”
After practices, players lounge on backless bleachers or sprawl on the floor, icing their knees and feet. Most do so in solitude, because media attention has been scant. Only a handful of reporters have attended the first week of camp, although dozens more are expected when the USA tips off the tournament against Venezuela Aug. 22 at Thomas & Mack Center.
During the NBA regular season and playoffs, Stoudemire is usually mobbed by the Suns-obsessed local media after every Phoenix practice at U.S. Airways Center. But on Thursday afternoon, only a couple of reporters chatted with him while he iced his surgically repaired knees.
Stoudemire said his knees feel good. But he acknowledged that this seems like a full year, and it’s only August. Each of the other NBA players can say the same thing.
“It’s a really long season—82 games, and then if you go through the playoffs, it makes it even longer,” Stoudemire said. “Plus, myself, coming off two knee surgeries and then playing a full season, then committing to USA Basketball, I think it shows a serious commitment. We’re dedicated.”
