By Paul Osborne

Mark Cuban has criticised the sending of NBA players to the Olympics ©Getty ImagesMark Cuban, owner of National Basketball Association (NBA) team the Dallas Mavericks, has begun a fresh row over the sending of NBA players to the Olympics following the injury to Indiana Pacers star Paul George.

George suffered a broken leg after an accident at the USA Basketball training camp in Las Vegas on Friday (August 1), potentially ruling him out of the sport for the coming season.

The incident brought a fresh wave of criticism in sending NBA stars to the Olympics and other international competitions due to the risk of injury to players and the small benefit to teams and their owners.

"We are so stupid that we are willing to commit what amounts to more than a billion dollars in salaries to help the Olympics line their pockets so we can pretend that the Olympic Games are about national pride," Cuban told Dallas News.

"I think it's a bigger issue than star players.

"We are being taken advantage of by the International Olympic Committee and to a lesser extent International Federal Basketball Association.

"We take on an inordinate amount of financial risk for little, if any, quantifiable gain.

"It's like our guiding principle is to lose money on every game and make it up in volume.

"There is no logic to our position.

"[We] just hope we get value somewhere in the future."

The row over sending NBA players to the Olympics was brought anew following the injury to Indiana Pacers star Paul George during a USA Basketball training camp in Las Vegas ©Getty ImagesThe row over sending NBA players to the Olympics was brought anew following the injury to Indiana Pacers star Paul George during a USA Basketball training camp in Las Vegas
©Getty Images


NBA players tend to rule themselves out of major international competitions, such as the Olympics, if their contracts are at an end or nearing their end.

This is due to the potential risk of injury which could hurt their chances of being signed by a new team.

The argument, therefore, is that only those players in long-term contracts will agree to play for their nations at the Olympic Games, with any injuries occurred not posing a problem to their potential earnings, only those of the owners of the teams who have to either sign a new player or complete the season a player short.

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