Team USA’s opening round game Sunday in the Beijing Olympics basketball competition possibly could pit two future teammates against each other.
Lakers star Kobe Bryant, the designated lockup defender for Team USA, could get the assignment of putting China’s Sun Yue in cold storage when the USA meets China in pool play.
Sun has agreed to a two-year deal with the Lakers, who selected him in the second round (40th overall) in the 2007 NBA draft. Lakers spokesman John Black said Sun has agreed to terms but has yet to sign the contract.
Sun is a 6-foot-9 multi-facted player, whose best position of the three that he plays is point guard. His court vision, decision making and passing skills have prompted some basketball observers to compare him to Lakers Hall of Famer and executive Magic Johnson.
Whoa, there. Slow that roll just a minute. Magic Johnson? Rabid fans of the Chinese national team might not consider Sun as even the best guard on their Olympic team. In the opinion of many, Chen Jianghua and Liu Wei are better.
Sun, 22, spent the past two seasons playing for his club team, Beijing Aoshen. He was a member of a Chinese team that participated inthe 2007 Las Vegas Summer League and prior to that, went through the NBA’s pre-draft camp in Orlando, which is where the Lakers made the decision to draft him, if he still was on the board when their turn came around in the second round.
However, if Sun indeed gets signed, an already crowded Lakers back court becomes even more packed and should make for a fiercely competitive training camp.
Incumbent starters Bryant and Derek Fisher are backed by Jordan Farmer, Sasha Vujacic (the recepient of a recent 3-year, $15 million contract), free-agent signee Dwayne Mitchell, returnee Coby Karl and second-round draft pick Joe Crawford.
Crawford has yet to be signed.
