South Dakota native Becky Hammon (above) will take the court along with several others talented American basketball players on Thursday when the U.S. plays Russia in the semifinals. The difference about Hammon is she will be wearing a Russian uniform.
Despite finishing second in the WNBA MVP voting last season, Hammon was not invited to try out for the U.S. national team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She responded by signing a lucrative contract with a Russian professional team that included the possibility of playing in the Olympic games.
United States coach Anne Donovan responded by extending a belated invitation for Hammon to try out for the American team. Still stinging from the initial snub, Hammon elected to play for a Russian team that had more interest in her. Donovan then called Hammon "not a patriotic person" in an interview with ESPN.
The situation received some attention in the national media in late June, but was forgotten soon enough. Now that Hammon will actually be playing against America with gold medal hopes on the line, it's worth revisiting the question: Did Hammon do anything wrong by electing to play for Russia?
