BARCELONA, Spain, (Reuters) – When Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird hit Barcelona 20 years ago they ushered in a new era of Olympic basketball, their Dream Team of NBA stars firing the imagination of hoopsters around the globe.
Now the 2012 U.S. team led by LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant are using Barcelona as their last stop before beginning the defense of their title in London, with the future makeup of Olympic tournaments up in the air.
USA Basketball chief Jerry Colangelo acknowledged that the wheels were in motion for a “sea change” to shift basketball’s showcase global event from the Olympic stage to a World Cup format patterned after the enormously popular world soccer tournament, but cautioned there were speed bumps ahead.
“I understand some of the logic relative to the consideration of change. But I also am a realist that it takes many parties to come to the table and agree internationally, let alone within your own country,” Colangelo told Reuters.
“Those kind of decisions usually take time.”
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) got the ball rolling in January by changing the name of the world championship to the FIBA World Cup starting with the 2014 tournament in Spain.
“This new name reflects the prestige that our tournament has as a premier international competition…one of the biggest global sporting events, along with the FIFA World Cup, the Rugby World Cup and the Cricket World Cup,” FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann said in making the announcement.
That led to conjecture that FIBA would also like to follow the soccer model in the Olympics, where under-23 teams compete with up to three exceptions allowed for older players.
