With four impactful words, Chauncey Billups cleared up his basketball future on Tuesday: “I will be back.”
After tearing his left Achilles tendon on Monday night against the Orlando Magic and undergoing an MRI in Cleveland on Tuesday that confirmed the tear, Billups spoke candidly about his plans to return from the injury while fending off notions of retirement during his upcoming six to nine month rehab process.
And while he is done for the rest of this season with the Los Angles Clippers, his appearance in this summer’s 2012 London Olympics is also in jeopardy.
Or is it?
According to a report Marc J. Spears, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo has no intentions of replacing the veteran point guard on the Olympic team’s training camp roster despite the reality Billups will not be ready to practice or play come June and July.
“There is no guarantee we’d replace him [on the roster]. My gut tells me probably not,” Colangelo said.
Colangelo should listen to his heart instead of his stomach before making a final call with head coach Mike Krzyzewski on Billups’ unusable status for the Olympics.
Make Billups an honorary assistant coach. Give him the title of “training camp advisor” or allow him simply to mentor the younger point guards on the team as a non-roster selection.
But saving his training camp spot and not allowing another healthy and surely qualified NBA star to be given the chance to represent his country is all types of wrong. The first player that comes to mind is Boston’s Rajon Rondo, who withdrew from Team USA in 2010. Back then, Rondo thought it was the best move “for the country” and stepped aside four days prior to the start of the FIBA World Championship in Turkey. Now Colangelo should bury any grudges with Rondo and do what is best for Team USA.
Billups should be commended for helping the 2010 U.S. team win the world championships, but that does not necessarily mean he should be grandfathered in to training camp, especially if this “grandfather” is gimpy.
Yes, Team USA has their share of guards. That is not being disputed here (see Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Eric Gordon, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams). This is more about the principal of leaving Billups’ spot vacant instead of automatically penciling him in. Maybe Colangelo was merely trying to cushion the blow with Billups dealing with a stressful and emotional situation. Maybe the verdict really is not final yet. But if Colangelo is so worried about injuries impacting the Team USA roster during this lockout shortened season, then he should swiftly insert a strategy to resolve any future hang-ups.
Obviously determining the severity of injuries — like Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Gordon, Rose and Lamar Odom struggling with nagging pains of late — will factor in to that decision, but when the phrase “six to nine months” recovery time is used, that decision becomes a no-brainer.
Who knows? Maybe Billups will do the right thing and step up as we grow closer to Team USA officially trimming their 20-man selection roster to a 12-man roster for the London Olympics and say, “While I am honored to represent my country, I believe allowing someone healthy to contribute to the success of Team USA is in the best interest at this time.”
The least he should do is suggest someone else be given a chance and the player pool be expanded to 21 to account for his injury.
Billups said everything else right on Tuesday regarding his comeback plan.
This choice will take more than four words, but they will be equally as impactful.
