USA 113
Virg. Isles 55
SAN JUAN – When it came right down to it, Tim Duncan simply couldn’t do it. He could not go up against friends and memories. He could not play against his homeland, the Virgin Islands. So Duncan, the best player on the best team, sat on the sidelines for Team USA yesterday.
“It was a personal decision, of course,” Duncan said in a statement after the U.S. Olympic qualifying team hardly broke a sweat in his absence, rolling to a 113-55 victory. “I did speak with the coaches and some of my Virgin Island friends and came to the decision that it was the best gesture to make and the right thing to do and that it felt right in this situation.”
Duncan had admitted all week he was torn about playing against the land where he grew up, where his parents passed away. Duncan first played for Team USA in 1995 in the Goodwill Games as an 18-year-old. And at that level, he became locked into Team USA. There is a complicated five-year wait for a waiver exception but realistically, basketball players don’t jump. When Duncan began playing, the Virgin Islands – an unincorporated U.S. territory – did not have a team.
“To a degree, this is about respect for the opponent,” said San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, Duncan’s NBA coach with whom the two-time MVP discussed his decision along with USA head coach Larry Brown.
“I knew when we were coming to the tournament that was going to be an issue. He was thinking about it he’s got a lot of friends over there. He cares about those guys and he talked to Pop and he talked to me about it and he just felt it was the right thing to do,” Brown said, adding with a smile, “and then he told me he was not going to play against Detroit.”
The question, of course, was what if this game had mattered? Obviously, the U.S. survived. Teammates were fine by his decision.
“I didn’t understand the importance of the situation he was in,” said Ray Allen. “When you get to this level you keep a loyalty to the people you grew up with. I’m glad he didn’t play because he showed his people he respects them.”
The Virgin Islands coach, Tevester Anderson, who noted “if we had him on our team, it would change the whole attitude,” praised Duncan’s decision.
“It must eat him up inside he has a lot of pride in his country. For him to say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to go against my guys,’ that showed a great gesture on his part,” Anderson said.
The U.S. players said they found out before of Duncan’s decision just before the game. Well, most of them.
“I didn’t know he didn’t play until after the game,” said Mike Bibby. “I thought he played a couple of minutes.”