"The Dream Team Hustle"

"Unbeatable on the court but got hustled in the board room!"

Last night I watched NBA TV's  documentary of the Dream Team. They were like rock stars on world tour. The treatment those guys got was unbelievable. Everywhere they went people were lined up to see them not only play the game but just walk down the street. They were bigger than the Beatles and Michael Jackson bruh! Let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! In 1992 that team was out to prove to the world that America had the best players and that they did. Unfortunately, they got hustled in the process!

It was like Don King promoting a prize fight in Vegas. He hype's up the fighter with one hand and has him sign the contract for peanuts relative to what they should be making with the other. Yeah they came in with the, "We've got to prove to the world that we're the best" speech! Got those boys fired up and nobody thought about the bread that they were leaving on the table. It's easy to do that when you're rich. Now let's be honest, none of these guys are struggling twenty years later but it's the principle homeboy! 

However, in 2012 these young boyz don't have anything to prove to the world because the Dream Team already did it for them. It's a proven fact that players in the NBA are the best on the planet. So now the Oaky Doke shouldn't be able to be ran because the Dream Team had already been the guinea pigs! Over the past twenty years we've seen the amount of bread generated from the Olympics and especially the income generated by the USA Basketball Team skyrocket!

So I was in complete agreement with both Dwayne Wade and Ray Allen when they said earlier this year that players should be compensated for playing in the Olympics! Just because these guys make millions of dollars as players doesn't mean that they should become Pons in the game and continue to be taken advantage of like the Dream Team was.

"It's a lot of things you do for the Olympics -- a lot of jerseys you sell," Wade said after a Heat practice before they played Chicago during the regular season. "We play the whole summer. I do think guys should be compensated. Just like I think college players should be compensated as well. Unfortunately, it's not there. But I think it should be something, you know, there for it." 

 Now Wade was the leading scorer on the 2008 Olympic team that won a gold medal in China. So he's not speaking about something that he's heard. He's watched folks take advantage of him. These guys aren't stupid bruh not to say that the Dream Team was. They just got caught up in the hype and didn't pay attention to the money. So yeah, they were a bit naive and unfortunately all of the other teams including this current roster have been too. The pressure has since silenced both Allen and Wade and they've agreed to play for free this summer too. 

I hear people making the reference that guys like Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt aren't asking to be paid! Let me take you to school bruh! Guys like Michael Phelps and Usain Bolts get paid as a result OF the Olympics. Nobody watches swimming or track but every 4 years. They wouldn't be making the money that they're making now if it weren't for the 2008 Olympics that made them famous. You didn't know who those guys were before then. Mary Lou Retton(1984 Gold Medal) became rich and made it to the cover of the Wheaties box because OF the Olympics. When was the last time you watched gymnastics on television? When the Olympics were on 4 years ago!  

The NBA players are already famous so the Olympics needs them not the other way around. It's called leverage and leverage is power all of the time. Why do you think Money Mayweather refuses to fight Pacquiao? I used to think that he was running scared but it's all about the bread. Mayweather doesn't want to split the purse of the fight 50-50 and Pacquiao does. However, Mayweather owns the company that will be promoting the fight. Therefore, he's got to make more of the money because he's taking on more risks. So he can fight "no-name" fighters and make just as much bread. So why fight Pacquiao because he's in the business of making money not proving who the best fighter is because he's more than a fighter. He's a legitimate businessman. Boxing is just the car that he drives to work in.  

 Believe me, the most disrespectful thing a person can do to you is to take advantage of you. When your boss/manager/supervisor comes to you and asks you to work optional overtime this weekend. What's the first thing you ask him? "Am I getting paid for this?"  Now if he starts running the "company line" by saying, "No my man, do it for the team! Look at the big picture etc!" You'd immediately say, "No thanks I would do it but I've got a family commitment this weekend!"  

So why do we try to run that same "be patriotic" line to the players just because they're rich. Rich or making good money is all relative. Don't you hate when folks try to size you up when you say, no I can't spend money like that and they come back with the "Man you got it!" response.  Don't be counting my money bruh! That's the same thing Dwayne Wade and Ray Allen we're saying before they let the pressure force their hand. By the way, neither of them will be playing on the Olympic team this year. Wade is out due to his knee injury and Allen just didn't make it. However, I respected them for at least speaking up.  

How are you going to run the "be patriotic" line on a boy and you're selling his jersey right in front of him? Be patriotic and give up some of that bread that you're making when you fly them around the world charging people to see them play in what are called "Exhibition Games." They should play for free when there's no admission fee to the games and when they start giving away jerseys. Otherwise, they're getting hustled just like the Dream Team did! According to Forbes magazine the Brits stand to make more than $26 billion dollars off of the Olympic Games thru 2017 because of the new construction projects etc. bruh!

 It was the biggest heist in sports history because guys continue to feel obligated to play for free as the money keeps piling up! If the Dream Team hadn't fallen for the Oakey Doke these cats today wouldn't still be getting taken advantage of. Let's keep it real! None of the media covering the joint is working for free nor is the Olympic committee working for free. I'm just sayin'!

P.S. For all of you Jordan fans! Ask him why Zeke was at the crib and Christian Laettner was on the team? That was a complete punk move bruh! I've been telling boyz for years that I didn't like Jordan for who he was off of the court as I've explained in joints like "I've Got No Respect For Jordan" & "No Respect For Jordan Part II". What blew my mind is that nobody else on the team had the "package" to call him out on it and speak up for Zeke, not even 20 years later! That was real suspect bruh!


Holla At Ya Boy! 
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport