Don't get your red, white, and blue panties in a bunch over this.
IMO, the ends justify the means here. It's worth not winning medal if the end result is that the NBA cleans up its act, improves its product, and we field a better team in the future. The players keep *talking* about wake-up calls, but no one actually wants to figuratively get out of bed and *do* anything about it. As it turns out we will get a medal (hooray!), the rest is yet to be seen....
The Bruce Smith comparison doesn't work here.
I don't even know why I have become so passionate about this since I no longer have any interest in the NBA.
EDIT: I would also like clarify my original post. I don't watch the games thinking "GO [insert foreign country here]!!!!" I pretty much sit there feeling sad and when they happen to lose I can't help but feel that, in the end, this should be a good thing for the future of the game in the US. That's it.