NBA – Cavs GM Ferry recognizes Olympic impact on NBA; Colangelo hands out rings

PHOENIX (NBA All-Star Game) – Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry believes last summer’s Olympic title-winning experience for the United States men has had a profound impact on their careers.

Ferry, who knows what it’s like to play for Team USA boss Mike Krzyzewski – his former coach at Duke University – has LeBron James on his Cavs roster.

"It was like a corporate business retreat,” Ferry said of the last three summers when the USA players joined together to play international basketball.

"These players all got to talk the game, share ideas and see how each other was working. That's had a far greater effect on each player than I ever imagined."

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo recently spoke to FIBA.com about how the Olympic experience was beneficial to the NBA and he hasn’t changed that opinion.

Colangelo, who met with the Team USA players that were at the All-Star Weekend to gauge their interest in playing at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics, said: “They got a big win, and they brought that culture back to their teams.”

Ferry agrees.

"That whole thing was really good for basketball, and really good for the NBA,” he said in a column written by cnnsi.com columnist Ian Thomsen.

"We reap the rewards here in Cleveland because LeBron's come back and continues to grow from the experience.

"You can go through a lot of the teams and see it was a great thing for basketball.”

The structure put in place by Colangelo and the players’ willingness to embrace it was crucial.

"Because it was a program,'' Ferry said.

"It wasn't just a team. They were together and they got to know each other, and the peer pressure within at some level had to be really, really strong.

“It wasn't just who won or how many points I scored. It was the process. They were together the last couple of years and they all shared -- this is what I do to get better, this is how hard I work.

“They shared it without saying it, just by doing it. And at some level it pushed them, and they had to have grown from that.''

Rings of Honor

Players involved in the NBA All-Star Weekend that competed at last year’s Beijing Games were honored at half-time of Sunday’s game.

The United States’ gold-medal winners at the Olympics were presented with rings by Colangelo.

Among the Americans receiving jewelry were Western Conference all stars Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul.

Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, James and Chris Bosh were in the Eastern Conference squad and accepted rings.

Representing the all-conquering women’s team in Phoenix were Tina Thompson and Lisa Leslie and they also received rings to commemorate their Olympic title win.

Other Beijing Games players involved in the NBA All-Star Weekend were recognized at half-time, including Western Conference All-Stars were Dirk Nowitzki of Germany, Pau Gasol of Spain and Yao Ming of China.

Argentina’s Luis Scola and Gasol’s brother Marc and Rudy Fernandez (also Spain) took part in the festivities and were recognized.

As for the All-Star Game itself, the West proved to be best.

Bryant had 27 points and Shaquille O’Neal poured in 17 as the Western Conference rolled to a 146-119 triumph over the Eastern Conference.

Kevin Durant scored a Rookie Challenge record 46 points for the Sophomores as they won 122-116.

FIBA