He had 'better' idea
Playing for Germans has improved Kaman, his outlook
 Big man Chris Kaman (right, defending with teammate Dirk Nowitzki against Spain's Pau Gasol) quickly blended in with the German team. (AP Photo) |
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BEIJING - The American has been referring to the team representing his country as "them," "they," and "those guys."
Sure seems odd for a kid who was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., went to Central Michigan University, and never has lived overseas to refer to the United States in such a manner. But Chris
Tonight, Kaman and the struggling Germans (1-3) will play against the undefeated US (4-0) during the final Group B preliminary game at the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium. And while Kaman has been called a traitor and his own father said he won't root for him tonight, the American has no regrets about suiting up for Deutschland.
"That's how life is. Not everybody can make the Dream Team. Not everybody makes Team USA," Kaman said. "Not everybody can play in the [NBA] All-Star Game. You can still get better in basketball, and that's why I wanted to do this. I wanted to get better in basketball.
"This is a different style of basketball and it makes you tougher, I think. That's how it rolls. I think it's a difficult situation for a lot of people because they've said a lot of negative things about it. I just tried to be positive and not care what others think."
Kaman's great-grandparents on his father's side are of German descent. Once German star Dirk Nowitzki learned that, he pushed for Kaman to become a member of the national team. Kaman got the passport and helped Germany qualify for the Olympics in July.
Kaman isn't the only American playing for another country in the Olympics. Guard Becky Hammon, who plays professionally in the WNBA and has played in Russia, is suiting up for Russia's women's team and has received a lot of criticism. Guard J.R. Holden, a 31-year-old who played in college at Bucknell and has played for CSKA Moscow since 2002, is playing for the Russian men's team.
But the difference between Kaman's situation and that of Hammon and Holden is that Kaman eventually could have played for the Americans. USA Basketball senior managing director Jerry Colangelo said Kaman initially accepted an invitation to play on a USA Select team that practiced and scrimmaged against the national team in July in Las Vegas. Playing for the Select team would have put Kaman in position to possibly play for the US during the 2010 World Championships and/or the 2012 Olympics.
"Do I want to be the beat-up dummy for the USA Dream Team?" said Kaman. "No offense to those guys, I appreciate everything. But I wanted to play in the Olympics. I wanted an opportunity to win a medal, and my best opportunity was to play for Germany with Dirk."
Other new big men the US likely will consider for the next Olympics include Greg Oden, Andrew Bynum, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, the Celtics' Kendrick Perkins, and more. And considering Kaman's age (26), he thought it was better to play for Germany now rather than roll the dice with the Americans.
"That's four years later," said Kaman about the 2012 Olympics. "Now I'm 26 years old, and four years down the road I'm 30. I don't want to wait four more years to London."
Kaman said members of the US men's team joked with him about playing for Germany during the opening ceremonies. All kidding aside, the Americans don't seem to have a problem with Kaman's decision.
"Being in the Olympics is all about a dream," Dwight Howard said. "It doesn't even matter. We just like seeing someone from the NBA representing somebody. He's representing Germany."
US guard Jason Kidd, who won a gold medal in 2000, said, "It's great when you talk about Kaman playing for Germany. It's great when guys have an opportunity to represent different countries. It's great for men and women. It makes the world better. We look forward to seeing him."
But while Kaman has received well wishes from Team USA, he and his family have received ill will from others, too.
"It's been a little rough," Kaman said. "People have said some stuff, the traitor card. I don't care. People are going to hate you whatever you do. Not everybody is going to like what you do. I try to be positive and focus on the positive things and not focus on the negative things."
Kaman doesn't speak German and isn't getting paid for playing. But the 7-foot, 255-pounder seems to be enjoying playing for Germany more than he does competing for the Clippers.
He has built a family-like bond with his teammates, and if Nowitzki decides to play in 2010 or 2012, Kaman would be open to suiting up for Germany again if he is healthy.
"I'm getting better at basketball," Kaman said. "I'm meeting new people. I'm playing with guys I've never played with before and making new friends. This is different. But the guys have been real cool. Some of these guys have been together for 10 years.
"It's very different than what you're used to. I've really enjoyed it. We're close. We're like a family almost. The NBA is not like that. It's just different."
Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com 
