OLYMPICS - Basketball stars odds-on to carry nations' flags in London

LONDON (Olympics) - Leading international basketball players are among the most celebrated athletes in the world.

It doesn’t matter where they’re from, or whey they compete as professionals.

Hoops stars have always be among the most famous and adored sportsmen and sportswomen.

There was no other conclusion to be drawn at the 2008 Olympics when five basketball players were selected to carry the flags for their nation’s Olympic squads.

Andrei Kirilenko, fresh off his EuroBasket 2007 MVP performance, led the Russian athletes into the Olympic stadium in China for the Opening Ceremony and so did Lithuania’s 2003 MVP Sarunas Jasikevicius.

Dirk Nowitzki, the EuroBasket 2005 MVP and former NBA MVP, was all smiles and at the front of the German parade in the Bird's Nest and Manu Ginobili was bestowed the honor for Argentina.

There was applause for Yao Ming, the native son who carried the flag for China’s large contingent of athletes.

It wasn’t the first time for Yao, because the mega-star had done the same thing four years earlier in Athens and later led China to an upset of Serbia and Montenegro to reach the Quarter-Finals in Greece.

The sight of Yao carrying the flag in China was evening more meaningful because it was recognition for a person who had done so much to put his country in a good light in the United States where the giant center lived and played for the Houston Rockets.

It was a moment he’ll never forget.

"I'm afraid I have to wear earplugs,” he said at the time of the noise that was going to greet him.

Maybe Lijie Miao, the leading scorer of the last Olympic women’s tournament when China reached the Semi-Finals, will have the honor this time?

Beijing was not the first time a host nation gave the honor to a basketball player because Australia decided in 2000 to put the flag in the hands of Andrew Gaze.

Gaze had been moved by the announcement, which was made a few days before the Sydney Games.

All of the country’s athletes were gathered to find out who would lead them into the stadium, and Gaze’s name was called.

"This is a very, very humbling experience," he said.

With all of this in mind, one can only wonder if a basketball player will carry a flag into the Olympic Stadium in London for the Opening Ceremony.

There are no shortage of candidates.

Tony Parker has been a shining light for French basketball the past decade, winning NBA titles with the San Antonio Spurs and playing in All-Star Games.

Parker has been a regular in the French side, too, because there is no greater feeling for him than to reunite with his friends in the summer and wear the national team shirt.

The emotion he showed immediately after qualifying for the Olympics for the first time, something France did by reaching the EuroBasket 2011 Final, spoke volumes about his mindset and his dreams.

A couple of Spaniards, Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro, have accomplished many, many things in international basketball, Spain and the United States.

They have won gold medals at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, and EuroBaskets 2009 and 2011, reached the Final of 2008 Olympics.

Gasol was the leading scorer at the 2004 Athens Games as Spain went unbeaten but then slipped up to the United States in the Quarter-Finals.

The 2006 World Championship MVP made his Olympic bow in Greece, while Navarro has already appeared in three, including Sydney when Spain were about to blossom into one of the leading sides in the world.

Gasol was also the MVP of EuroBasket 2009, while Navarro claimed that honor last year in Lithuania.

Like Parker, Gasol has captured NBA titles and played in All-Star Games.

Navarro has spent all but one year with Barcelona, helping them retain their status as a leading club side in Europe.

If it were to happen, it would be a first for Spain.

A basketball player hasn’t carried the flag for Spain, though, at the Opening Ceremony before.

For Argentina, Luis Scola could follow in the footsteps of Ginobili in serving as the flag-bearer.

There has not been a more committed or accomplished player in the international game than Scola, a man who has never said no to putting on the Argentina shirt.

He reached the Final of the 2002 FIBA World Championship and clinched gold with Ginobili in Athens.

Scola has been the MVP of FIBA Americas Championships, made all-tournament sides at World Championships and led these great events in scoring.

Similarly, both Tiago Splitter and Marcelo Huertas would be worthy of the honor for Brazil.

Just consider what Brazil legend Oscar Schmidt, the leading scorer at the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics, had to say about both.

“They are my two favorite players,” he said.

“I love those two. Marcelo became the leader. We didn't have a leader for many years and Marcelo took that spot.

“Tiago is a great guy that any father wants as a son.”

Marcelo Machado has also been a player that is passionate about the national team and if he makes the squad, which most people expect, the flag could be put in the Flamengo star’s hands.

“I love the way that Marcelinho Machado plays, so I hope that he can come to the Olympics,” Oscar said.

The last Brazilian basketball player to serve as the nation's flag-bearer was Luis Claudio Menon at the 1972 Munich Games.

The country does have a tradition of letting basketball players carry the flag because Marques Wlamir did it in 1964 and Mário Jorge da Fonseca Hermes 12 years before that.

The United States men and women have dominated the Olympic Games over the years.

One wonders if two-time Olympians Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James or Dwyane Wade might be presented with the chance, or possibly Kobe Bryant – arguably the most popular athlete at the 2008 Summer Games.

Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi certainly have a lot of fans in the United States and around the world for all they have accomplished in a USA shirt and with their different club sides.

The only basketball player to carry the flag for the United States was Dawn Staley in 2004.

As good as she was on the court, Staley had made her mark off it and that contributed to the decision to give her the honor.

She had set up the Dawn Staley Foundation, and the after-school project the foundation runs for kids from her old neighborhood in Philadelphia.

"I don't think [they picked me] for anything I've done on a basketball court," she said.

"I think it was for helping others achieve their goals and dreams."

Before the Opening Ceremony in Greece, Staley said: "It is bigger than me carrying the flag.

"I will carry the hopes and dreams of a lot of little boys and girls who feel their situation is bleak."

There are plenty of possibilities.

In terms of heroes, there are none bigger in Tunisia than center Salah Mejri, who led the country to Afrobasket 2011 gold last year and was named MVP of the tournament.

That result booked a first-ever appearance for Tunisia in the Olympics, so Mejri or perhaps one of his teammates will have the honor of bearing the flag.

FIBA