Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs told sources that he would like to represent his country in the 2012 games and if they were held in Paris he would consequently retire from international basketball at the conclusion of the games.

To Parker?s dismay they games were awarded to London, which resulted in comments about racial bias from Parker, "It's been three times now that Paris has been refused - 1992, 2008 and 2012. I find that bizarre," said Parker, "We did everything we had to do. I don't know what more we could have done. It proves that the committee is Anglo-Saxon. They prefer the English," he said.

Doherty point outs that the holder of the next and the last games were China and Greece and in 1992 Paris lost out to Barcelona.