Should NBA players be banned...

[spursfan101]

Tim Duncan represented his country this summer, and his body is paying the price for the constant wear and tear he's put on it.  Tony Parker is struggling too, from what Popovitch calls, exaustion from playing for a championship, then playing all summer long (representing France.)

Popovitch has BANNED Tony Parker from playing in the Olympic Games because of the affect its had on his game?

Question to you.  Should NBA coaches have the authority to tell players they cannot play in international competition?  I think they have the right. Your paying these players millions of dollars, you have the right to get what you pay for.

[jn]

Unless it's specifically written into the contract then no it should be at the players discretion.   I don't actually like the pros playing but that's beside the point.  Until I hear about coaches managing to ban bar hopping, bad diets, and high speed driving it seems pretty hypocritical from banning them from representing their discovery.  

[SPURSX3]

i dont think players should be banned, but i do think penalties for jeopardizing thier game should be put into affect.  i mean if a players plays for his national team, fine, it is an honor, but if the lasting affects hurt his game there should be some compensation for the team owners.  probably a decrease of 1 -2  percent in contract the year following summer play should be put into affect when a player commits to play, or begins national play, thats just my opinion.

[WayOutWest]

Completely disagree.

Like jn posted, there are alot of other things that can affect your play.  If you start incroaching on freedoms then others would possibly follow suit.  If that's the case it needs to be a league wide rule not on a per team basis AND not unless the player agrees at contract time.

It's not unheard of and at millions per year I wouldn't be apposed to certain things but playing for your country is not one of them.  Considering that the players are almost the entire franchise, they really shouldn't be flying around the country together, big execs at companies aren't allowed to for companies big and small.  I worked for a company where 4 particular guys were not allowed to travel together in any way shape or form.

[Randy]

Tim Duncan represented his country this summer, and his body is paying the price for the constant wear and tear he's put on it.  Tony Parker is struggling too, from what Popovitch calls, exaustion from playing for a championship, then playing all summer long (representing France.)

Popovitch has BANNED Tony Parker from playing in the Olympic Games because of the affect its had on his game?

Question to you.  Should NBA coaches have the authority to tell players they cannot play in international competition?  I think they have the right. Your paying these players millions of dollars, you have the right to get what you pay for.

So what's next?  Ban players who play pick-up ball all summer?  There are many who spend as much time in the gym in pick-up games as those participating in the Olympics (okay, we all know that Shaq ISN'T one of them).  I think some of this is being highly overrated -- why are other players like JO, Manu, Peja, Dirk, Nash, etc. not suffering if this is all true?  

I don't buy this stuff with Parker playing in the Olympics being the reason for his poor play to date -- I think it has a LOT more to do with the lack of confidence that Pop showed in him when he decided he wanted JKidd at all costs.  Parker had a VERY poor showing last year in the playoffs -- Speedy came in off the bench and played very well but Parker wasn't on his game.  Parker is going to be a solid role player and when the Spurs don't have TD on the court, he can score a lot of points -- but when most teams get prepared for the Spurs without TD, the Spurs aren't going to win a lot of games.  They still have a shot at a lot of teams around the league without TD but against the top 10, they aren't going to fare well.

[Ted]

Just wanted to make a point.

Parker had some very good games in the playoffs last year. In fact, in two or three finals games, he completely outplayed Kidd. But he folded in the last couple and that's all we remember. But he didn't completely suck in the playoffs.

[jn]

Ted you are absolutely correct.   TP was terrific the first couple games of the Finals.  

[westkoast]

Really I think it should be up to the player.  Not many people get a chance to represent where they are from on the international stage like that.  However, they should have enough sense in there heads to realize they are a pro player under contract first.  As selfish and wrong as that sounds its their job to play games.  Getting hurt playing away from the NBA is a problem.