Americans Shoot Russian Hoops

Becky Hammon was born and raised in South Dakota. But, come August, she’ll be trying to help the Russian women’s basketball team win gold in Beijing.

After the popular, 5’6” WNBA player (San Antonio) was passed over for the U.S. Olympic team (despite being chosen as 2007 Runner-up MVP in the WNBA), she decided to play for the Russian team. She applied for Russian citizenship, was naturalized (her paperwork being “approved quickly by the highest levels of the Russian government,” according to her agent) and will take her hard-driving game to Beijing on behalf of Mother Russia.

Hammon has played for several years for the Russian team CSKA during the WNBA off-season, and has just signed a contract that will have her playing for three more years. In April, she set a new world record for most free throws made in a minute: 38.

“I’m going where they really want me and where I have an opportunity to win a medal,” Hammon said in an interview with the AP. “If I thought there was any indication that I could play with USA Basketball, I probably wouldn’t have done it. I feel good [about the decision]. If you had asked me a couple of months ago, I would have had mixed emotions. But my options were to sit on my couch and watch the Olympics, or play in the Olympics. It made it an easy decision.”

Meanwhile, American JR Holden who hit the game-winning shot for Russia’s men’s basketball team in last summer’s 2007 Eurobasket Championships, will also compete for Russia in Beijing. 

– Paul E. Richardson