Team USA star DeAndre Jordan says Olympics gold would trump an NBA championship
Team USA star DeAndre Jordan says an Olympics gold medal in Rio de Janeiro this month would trump an NBA title.
With two more wins for the U.S. after some hiccups in the men's basketball tournament, Jordan will likely have his medal. But does his bold statement hold up?
Jordan's USA squad walloped Argentina in the Olympics quarterfinals Wednesday to advance to Rio's final four. But that follows struggles against Australia, France and Serbia in group play, all close wins in which the star-studded U.S. never really clicked. Team USA next plays Spain in the quarterfinals on Friday.
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Before the Argentina win Wednesday, Jordan told ESPN.com Olympic gold medals top NBA championships.
"I think they're above NBA rings," he said. "I may get in trouble for saying that, but I believe that. I feel like this is more special. You're not just playing teams in the U.S. You're playing teams from all over the world. And this is even more special because there's an NBA champion crowned every year, but this is every four years.
"You've got to really think about that, man, because it's extremely special."
Jordan's not the first NBA player to compare a championship to a gold medal. Teammate Carmelo Anthony recently said he'd consider his career "great" if the U.S. wins in Rio, which would be his third gold medal, but he has never won an NBA ring. Kyrie Irving, fresh off a title with the Cleveland Cavaliers, said an NBA ring and an Olympics gold medal were "pretty much the same."
Jordan raises a good point that the Olympics are an international event and only held every four years. But the NBA is the unquestioned pinnacle of competitive basketball. Case in point: Since first using NBA players at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, the U.S. has failed to win the gold medal just once, in 2004.
In eight NBA seasons, meanwhile, Jordan's Clippers have never advanced past the Western Conference Semifinals. Perhaps now with a gold medal nearly in sight, his perspective is a little bit warped.
If so, we can hardly blame the guy.
Topics Olympics
Sam Laird is Mashable's Senior Sports Reporter. He covers the wide, weird world of sports from all angles -- as well as occasional other topics -- from Mashable's San Francisco bureau. Before joining Mashable in November 2011, his freelance work appeared in publications including the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Slam, and East Bay Express. Sam is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, and basketball and burritos take up most of his spare time. Follow him on Twitter @samcmlaird.
