2012 Summer OlympicsMedia Monster

FIBA’s Crusade For U-23 Olympic Basketball Has Been Thwarted … For Now

If you can’t stand to watch the best and brightest stars from the NBA compete in the Olympics, you’ll probably want to cover your ears as you sound out cheers from the contingent on the opposite side of the spectrum, as they celebrate at least one more Summer Olympics that will feature a U.S. Dream Team and a heavy dose of NBA talent.

Sports Illustrated‘s Ian Thomsen reports — via a source on the inner circle of  talks to turn Olympic basketball into a U-23 tournament — that instating an age ceiling in time for the 2016 Games in Rio will be unlikely.

But the source stressed that quick action on an age limitation is highly unrealistic for FIBA. Passage of the new rule will require the ratification of 213 national basketball federations around the world — the sporting equivalent of the United Nations. The involvement of the IOC will further complicate the talks.

FIBA is doing their best to imitate poster child of international sport FIFA’s approach. Soccer’s governing body allows Olympic squads to field only three players who don’t meet the 23-year-old age maximum, ensuring Olympic talent won’t overshadow the varsity squads of the World Cup, their marquee event. And they do a pretty damn good job.

The basketball powers at be are trying to mirror the world’s most popular sport and monopolize on their ever-globalizing pastime, but it seems like the makeover will have to wait. Apparently the IOC is slow at doing things. This is a new development.

But that’s good news for players like Carmelo Anthony, who will get at least one more chance to get punched in the crotch on the Olympic stage. Oh, and compete for a gold medal I guess.

[h/t Larry Brown Sports; photo via Getty]