Good point guards have been hard to come by in Russia. The men's national team solved the problem by providing CSKA playmaker JR Holden with Russian citizenship. The women have followed suit and one of the most prolific U.S. point guards Becky Hammon now

Many stars pick Russia as their country of choice to play overseas.

The Russian women's basketball A-division has the greatest number of American stars playing outside the U.S., and point guard Becky Hammon is one of them. Known as ‘Big shot Betty’, Hammon is now in her second year with Russian champions and European powerhouse CSKA.

“I love my country but since I’ve been here Russia has been very good to me. The people have treated me very kindly and I enjoy it over here,” the new Russian citizen said.

“The Olympics don’t happen that often – there’s only one in four years. Russia dramatically lacks backcourt players. As good as Rakhmatulina or Korsova are, they are not playmakers. In Hammon we get skills, experience and consistent points. If she wants to become Russian and play for the national team, I don’t see anything wrong with it,” says Evgeny Gomelsky, the coach of the women’s national team.
 
While the move will definitely help Russia's chances at the Olympics, some purists might argue that with nations recruiting players, the international game is becoming similar to the club game.

All controversy aside, Hammon should make Russia a better team. And if the team comes back from Bejing with some gold hanging from their necks, few people will criticise her decision.