NBA Considers Summer a Plus

U.S. Loss Does Not Dampen Spirits

Carmelo Anthony, from left, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James proved to be the NBA's ambassadors this summer. (By Jesse D. Garrabrant -- Nbae Via Getty Images)

The last time the NBA's top American players were on a basketball court in a game that mattered, they were finishing third behind Spain and Greece at the world championships in Japan. It could have easily been remembered as another embarrassing indictment of the NBA, along with the failure to win an Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004 or the debacle in Indianapolis in 2002, when a team filled with NBA players bickered and crumbled to a sixth-place finish at the world championships. But from a public relations standpoint, it won't.

"It was an experience, where we felt it was important to serve as ambassadors and represent our country in a class manner," said Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison, a reserve on the U.S. national team. "We watched how the Dream Team started it off and how Michael, Magic and Larry represented our country and brought basketball to the world. They set the standard on how Team USA was going to be represented, and we knew how important it was to take that responsibility very seriously."

No one associated with USA Basketball was celebrating that the talent-laden squad was pick-and-rolled to death by a Greek team that had no players with NBA experience. But there is a difference between disaster and disappointment, and the performance in Japan could actually benefit the NBA, which tips off a new season tomorrow night.

The world championships raised the profiles of the league's newly anointed royalty -- LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony -- and helped improve the reputation of the league's American players abroad. There were no sightings of the Ugly American -- no ribcage-rattling elbows reminiscent of Charles Barkley or Shawn Kemp-like, crotch-grabbing dunk celebrations -- and none of the infighting that splintered the previous two U.S. teams. The latest squad was embraced by the Japanese fans. "People were cheering for the U.S.," said Jerry Colangelo, managing director of USA Basketball. "That wasn't true in '02 or '04."

The change in perception began with team tri-captains Wade, James and Anthony, who represented themselves without ego. Following a stellar playoff run in which he led the Miami Heat to the NBA title and was named NBA Finals MVP, Wade willingly accepted coming off the bench. Only a few months after he finished third in the league in scoring and single-handedly carried the Cleveland Cavaliers to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference semifinals, James slid into the supporting role of playmaker. And Anthony, who had the most damaging episode in Athens with his public clashes with Olympic Coach Larry Brown over playing time, repaired his image, as he was arguably the best player on the team.

Anthony led the team in scoring and ensured his place with 2003 draft classmates Wade and James after taking a step backward his second season in the league.

"We're in an extraordinary era of NBA basketball," NBA Commissioner David Stern said recently in a phone interview.

Other participants in the world championships, including Jamison, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich, intend to use the experience to help lift their teams. Sacramento Kings center Brad Miller said his lack of playing time will motivate him in the regular season. The Wizards' Gilbert Arenas has said that being sent home before the team traveled to Japan would serve as his latest source of motivation.

Not every team gained from the world championships. Memphis lost Pau Gasol (tournament MVP from gold medal-winning Spain), who broke his foot during the competition, and the Wizards are still awaiting the return of Darius Songaila, who missed the entire preseason and may have prolonged his absence by playing for the Lithuanian national team with a pinched nerve in his back.

There will be many concerns about the health of the participants in the world championships throughout the regular season. Jamison and Wade recently complained of fatigue, and Cleveland Coach Mike Brown has already made it clear that he would like to reduce James's minutes this season.

Denver Coach George Karl had a different point of view. "I personally think the reward of what Melo did was worth the risk that we took," he said. "He gets to play on the stage of the best in the world. He gets to compete with LeBron and Dwyane and the top 15 players. Just playing with those guys every day makes you a better basketball player."

Stern has been criticized for allowing NBA players to continue to lose international competitions -- Team USA has lost seven games in the past four years -- but he said he believes the exposure to international basketball, win or lose, has enhanced the quality of the league.

"When you follow the scene for the past 20 years as I have . . . you knew that the world has become infatuated with America's game and is learning all of our former secrets," Stern said. "And that's a good thing because that is going to make our game better in two ways: It's going to force us to focus on international competition, if we decide that we want to win. And it's going to give us the benefit in the NBA of having elite athletes from all over the world who are super athletes and super basketball players. When you think about Yao Ming, [Dirk] Nowitzki, [Tony] Parker, Gasol and [Manu] Ginobili -- just to name five -- that's some team.

"I think, actually, Americans now understand that the world has given us the greatest compliment," Stern said. "They have embraced our game, and they are determined to play it at the highest level."