Playing for your country isn’t enough for some NBA players. FoxSports.com is reporting future Hall of Famers Ray Allen and Dwyane Wade want to be paid to play in the Olympics in London this summer.
According to Allen, “Everybody says, ‘Play for your country.’ But [N.B.A. players are] commodities, your businesses. You think about it, you do camps in the summer, you have various opportunities to make money. When you go overseas and play basketball, you lose those opportunities, what you may make… If I’m an accountant and I get outsourced by my firm, I’m going to make some money somewhere else.”
Apparently making $18 million a season isn’t enough for the Miami Heat super star. Wade told ESPN: “It’s a lot of things you do for the Olympics — a lot of jerseys you sell. We play the whole summer. I do think guys should be compensated. Just like I think college players should be compensated as well.”
Wade and Allen have both been apart of Olympic gold medal teams in 2008 and 2004 respectivley. But in 2004, in the midst of player rifts and lack of enthusiasm Team USA finished a disappointing third becoming the first U.S. men’s basketball team with NBA players to lose an Olympic game. It was reported Wade along with Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Carlos Boozer made a pact to win gold, earning the nickname redeem team. But apparently, green is better than gold.
