Lack of AI? Culture Bias and U.S Olympic Basketball

In a baffling move, Allen Iverson--who is the NBA's 2nd leading scorer and is 8th in assists per game--has been left off the U.S. Olympic team. Iverson had repeatedly expressed a desire to represent his country and to be on the team, which is directed by Jerry Colangelo and coached by Mike Krzyzewski. The team will be announced this Sunday and will include 22 NBA players, 2 college players, and 1 high school player. And no Allen Iverson. I don't care who else is on the team: Iverson should be on it. Just check out his stats from this season and where he ranks in the NBA:

Ranks #2 in Points Per Game(33.0)	Ranks #8 in Assists Per Game(7.3)
Ranks #3 in Steals Per Game(2.06)	Ranks #1 in Minutes Per Game(43.5)
Ranks #5 in Minutes Played	Ranks #3 in Field Goals Made
Ranks #5 in Steals	Ranks #2 in Free Throws
Ranks #7 in Efficiency Ranking	Ranks #8 in Assists

But perhaps more impressive than his stats is his reputation for being the toughest player in the league. The guy is no taller than 6'0 (and my brother Bill, who is 6'0 and has stood next to Iverson, swears that Iverson isn't taller than 5'11), weighs no more than 185 pounds, and yet he fearlessly drives to the hoop all the time, unafraid of being mauled by guys a foot taller and a 100 pounds heavier. He also plays hurt all the time, and doesn't worry about his contract or suffering further injury. In other words, he plays exactly how coaches tell their players to play. He is a warrior and an inspiration for how the game should be played.

So why then was he left off? Could it be the tattoos? The rap music? The "thug" appearance? Clearly, not selecting Iverson badly undercuts the legitimacy of the selection process. But more importantly, think about the underlying message it sends: it repudiates this "culture of merit"/Horatio Alger society that we like to believe exists in our country, that we tell others exists in our country, and that would presumably be reflected in how we chose our Olympians. Just the opposite, actually, Colangelo and Krzyzewski's decsion seems emblematic of the paternalism epidemic sweeping men's basketball. Hopefully the rest of the world doesn't take notice.

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