A recent piece written by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports suggested Billy Hunter, executive director of the players union, was "too weakened and distracted" from the recent discord within the union to put up much of a fight against a move to limit the Olympics to players age 23 and under. Hunter, who has a seat on USA Basketball's board of directors, insists the players will have a voice in any discussion of an age limit, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes.
"Whatever the players decide, that's what I'll end up supporting," the union chief said. "They don't want anybody being able to dictate whether they can or cannot do that."
NBA commissioner David Stern told Zillgitt last week that he's in no rush to push for an age limit, and Hunter, who said he met with Stern two days ago, echoed that an age limit is still a long way from becoming reality. There are no meetings scheduled to discuss the topic, though USA basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo wants to begin formal talks shortly following the London Games.
Stern, at the behest of Mark Cuban and other owners who've expressed displeasure about allowing NBA players to take part in competitions that aren't under NBA control, has spoken publicly about engaging FIBA in discussion on limiting player participation in the Olympics and funneling them into the World Cup of basketball, a rebranded World Championships that would take place every four years under some kind of partnership between FIBA and the NBA.