Speaking in his Guardian column the athletics pundit and Olympic medallist highlighted the opportunity basketball has been given ever since the capital won the right to stage the world"s biggest sporting event."The sport appears to have been bubbling away below the media waterline but has always had a loyal following which has craved an NBA type of product to buy into,"€ said Cram."Britain has never quite embraced the game despite the fact that many would purport to have an interest at a basic level. But it has a chance to build on that over the next four years."After London won the right to host the Olympic Games the prospect of playing for Team GB suddenly became interesting for NBA regulars who had long since played down their British connections."€ÂCram will witness firsthand the importance of basketball in the Olympic programme this summer when he travels to Beijing, where China"s national hero Yao Ming will be on show and the World and three-time Commonwealth champion sees no reason why Luol Deng cannot fulfil a similar role in four years time."The presence of the Chicago Bulls player has been a major factor in the upsurge of the British squad and in recent weeks strong overtures have been made to his team-mate Ben Gordon to join the fray."Deng will still be only 27 when London rolls around and if the national team can continue their progress and become genuinely competitive in the meantime then you had better start booking your tickets now."€ For the full article go to http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/04/29/eagles_ascent_and_lure_of_2012.html