Not as big of a factor as some make it out to be. The hip-hop culture likes to have attention brought to themselves through how they dress and conduct themselves (taking of the jersey and walking off the court bare-chested; trash talking and mugging for the camera). They prefer more individual play than team play, but it has nothing to do with winning and losing on an international level. These type of players don't have to be selected for the US team, but some were. They are also very good players. These players are more than capable of improving their basic skills (shooting, passing, and free throw shooting) but right now the NBA prefers their style of isolation, penetration, and hard nose man-to-man defense.

I'm not even going to try to figure out why that's an option. LOL.

The poster boy for hip hop culture, Allen Iverson, was perhaps the classiest member of the US team - and that includes the coaching staff. While everyone else reached for excuses - we had the wrong players, we didn't have enough practice time, the refs suck, etc. - all Iverson said was how proud he was to represent his country, and what an honor it was to be there.