Michael Wilbon has an article up on the Olympics and the toll it might take on the NBA players. Reliably, Charles Barkley cuts to the chase:
"The issue, if we're talking about health, starts with qualifying. If these guys stop messing around and go ahead and win the gold medal, they won't have to take more than three weeks to a month out of their lives. A month of playing other great players in the Olympics is good preparation for the next season. But if you don't win gold or you're not the host nation, then it can take two years of playing and practicing to qualify. And that takes the big physical toll. It takes more out of you physically to do all the stuff to qualify than it does to play six games or whatever you need to win to win the gold."
So there.