Hammon’s choice creates backlash

As the Summer Olympics approach, Becky Hammon has become a controversial figure.

For me, she was an anonymous figure. For you, too, I’m guessing. But that was before the borscht hit the fan.

The other day, Anne Donovan, former sweetheart of Old Dominion basketball and current coach of the U.S. Olympic team, called Hammon a traitor. What Hammon is doing, Donovan said, “is unfathomable to me.”

Detractors notwithstanding, Hammon is going ahead with her summer plans. In Beijing, this small-town girl from Rapid City, S.D., will be living out her American dream… by playing point guard for the Russians.

“I don’t expect everybody to understand or jump on my bandwagon,” Hammon said recently.

She’s a 10-year veteran of the WNBA who finished second in the MVP voting last year playing for the San Antonio Silver Stars but, until recently, she flew low under the radar. Now she’s an Internet target who’s being asked to defend her patriotism.

“I know how I feel about my country,” she said. “I’m very proud of what America represents to the world. But this is a basketball game. This is not life or death.”

Hammon will enter Beijing National Stadium during the opening ceremonies under the Russian flag, wearing Russian colors.

She has no genealogical connection to the country but was granted a Russian passport after signing a seven-figure contract with a professional team in Moscow over the winter.

Hammon isn’t the only American player who carries a passport from another country. It’s standard operating procedure for WNBA globetrotters.

Financial reasons factored into Hammon’s decision to apply for Russian citizenship. There are marketing opportunities in Moscow for a star player with connections to the country.