With just over 160 days until the Rio de Janeiro Olympics start, teams and athletes are running out of time to qualify and prepare.
The Tall Blacks' chances of making it are even more out of reach now that Steven Adams has decided not to don the black singlet yet again.
The Tall Blacks selectors were willing to bend their tall frames over backwards in their negotiations with Adams, but he has decided singing E Ihowa Atua at a tournament that isn't considered a ‘‘pinnacle'' event for many of the American basketballers is not a priority.
The chances of the Tall Blacks qualifying for the Olympics at the July tournament in Manila would have been as difficult as making a shot from one end of the court to the other.
Now they have to try to make that shot with one hand tied behind their back.
Why is Steven Adams so hesitant to play for his home country?
The media like to mention that he was born in Rotorua and schooled in Wellington and he talks about how proud he is to be a Kiwi but he is yet to wear his national pride on his uniform so to speak.
Is it silly romanticism in a global, commercialised sportsworld to expect athletes making millions of dollars overseas to want to play for national pride and honour?
Let's forget about nationalism for a minute, and think about the benefits of going to the Olympics for athletes.
Research in the early 1990s (yes, a bit dated) suggested Olympic athletes in the United States definitely got a boost up the social ladder post-Olympics mainly because they also tended to be more educated.
This is not surprising in the North American context where sport scholarships (like the one Steven Adams received) are often the pathway for high-level athletic participation.
Twenty years on, does going to the Olympics still guarantee a foot in the door, a lift up the ladder, or a world of opportunities?
Looking at past New Zealand Olympians, they seem to be the golden ones for many more years after their podium performance with sponsorship deals, product endorsements, and business/community initiatives galore.
Barbara Kendall, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell, Lisa Carrington, Hamish Carter and Rob Waddell have gone on to be household names, but we all know after Jonah Lomu's financial woes were revealed that a high profile doesn't guarantee a regular income and financial wealth.
Steven's sister, Valerie Adams, has not been shy to mention how she struggles financially at times, so perhaps Steven Adams is smart and knows which side his bread is buttered on.
He is looking after No1, and he is being loyal to the people and institutions that have given him a foot up the basketball ladder.
Unfortunately for New Zealand, he doesn't seem to see any value in playing for the Tall Blacks just yet.
