Every
Wednesday during the NBA season, interbasket takes a closer look at ten
international NBA players that has caught our eye. (This week is for
period 11/22 - 11/28/2007)
We start with some big news out of Toronto. Spanish small forward and Toronto Raptor Jorge Garbajosa is going to have another surgery on his leg.
Ok, that's not news. That happens all the time in sports, Stuart.
True, but there's an added layer to the situation; Garbajosa played
in the European Championships this past summer despite the Raptor's
strong advice to skip the qualifier and have surgery done on the same
injured leg that wasn't healing correctly according to the Toronto's
medical team.
Instead, Garbajosa chose to represent Spain, backed by Spanish
doctors that claimed further surgery was superflous. The Spanish team
wanted him so much that they took out a $1 million dollar insurance
policy that would cover his $4 mil salary had Garbajosa injured himself
during National team duty. Looks like the Raptors might be filing a
claim against that policy soon.
That's only the tip of the iceberg right now. With the Memphis
Grizzlies coming into Toronto tonight, it would have brought four
Spanish players in one NBA game -- Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Jose Calderon
with Garbajosa on the sidelines. What should be a celebratory photo-op
at mid-court, has become a huge controversy in Spain and with one Pau
Gasol.
Pau Gasol and the Spanish press feel
as if the Raptors don't have Garbajosa's best interest in mind by
sending him off to surgery, but rather they're punishing him for going
against their will. Stay tuned...
On a sidenote: Would this have been the first time that four
international players from the same country played in the same NBA
game? I know the Houston-San Antonio game last week brought three
Argentines together, but can anyone remember four players? Maybe those
Sacramento Kings with Vlade and Peja?
For all our Spanish readers, there is a lighter side - Juan Carlos
Navarro is finally finding his groove. In the last three gamee, the
Spanish superstar has played his 34, 37, and 38 minutes -- by far his
highest total minutes logged this season. During that span, Navarro has
averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, has shot 55% from the field
and 45% from three. Navarro had his first NBA double-double last night,
16 points and 11 rebounds (his previous high was 4 rebounds!). It seems
as both La Bomba and his coach are finally gaining confidence in...
well, Juan Carlos Navarro.
Is this really Desagana Diop's
seventh NBA season? Yeah, I guess it is. The 25-year old came straight
out of high-school and was drafted eighth overall in the the 2001
high-school-crazy draft (that saw Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, and Eddy
Curry go 1, 2, and 4)
The 7-foot center from Senegal has finally found his niche averaging
great numbers (also career-highs) in rebounds (7.8) and blocks (2.4)
for the Dallas Mavericks - holding down the middle for the Dallas
Mavericks...
What's even more amazing, Diop has usurped Erick Dampier as
the starting center, the same Erick Dampier that proclaimed himself the second-best center in the
league (after Shaq)! Make that the third-best, Damp.
Vladamir Radmanovic
was never the face of consistency and level-headedness. Despite his shooting touch, size and
agility, Vladimir's career has been marred by a reputation of
a bad work-ethic, whining on his national team, and sever inconsistency from game-to-game. Add
all that to his lying about how he got a leg-injury last season (he
hurt himself snowboarding). Not a great legacy thus far.
Despite all that, Radman has started out the season with perhaps the
most promise. His points per game were holding steady at double-digits,
is hitting the long ball when he open, and the Lakers are wnning games
in the West. Radmanovic is shooting at a career-high clip almost across
the board.
And then it came down in a 102-100 loss to the New Jersey Nets in
which he shot 0-7 from three and a combined 0-10 from the field. He was
1-2 from the free-throw line and had 3 turnovers, all this in just 24
minutes. Even with his performance, Radmanovic is still shooting 44%
from three.
On the other side of the shooting spectrum, Steve Nash
hasn't missed from the free-throw line this season. Nash is 40-40 on
free throws this year. The only other player that hasn't missed a
free-throw this season is another international player - Darius Songaila of Lithuania. Songaila is 21-21. Previous to Nash's season-record, Yao Ming had a streak of 30 straight free throws made.
When Luis Scola
scored a then career-high 20 points against the Spurs last week, I
dismissed it as a mere coincidence. Though he was a Spur, Scola was
traded away before any real hard-feelings could be accumulated.
Now,
when Beno Udrih
went for 27 points (8-12FG, 9-9 FT), 5 assists and 4 rebounds in a win
vs. the Spurs. I have no doubt that Beno had a little more jump to his
step before and after the game against his former team.
Nenad Krstic
returned from his leg-injury this season and has been slow-going in regaining form. The
Serbian center is averaging career lows in all categories and has
played only 3 minutes in the last four games. It doesn't look good for
Krstic since the struggling Nets have won three of those four games.
Speaking of struggling Nets players - Bostjan Nachbar
is averaging more minutes, points, assists, steals, blocks,
FG-attempts, 3pt FG attempts and FT attempts this season but hasn't
been able to carry-over his efficient shooting percentages from the
previous year.
I respect Scott Skiles coaching, I do, but with the Chicago Bulls struggling, why isn't Viktor Khryapa
playing more? Or why was he not even activated? I am not one of those
guys that blindly love-on all international players, but did anyone in
Russia send Skiles a tape of what Khryapa did this past summer?
In the one game that Khryapa has played in this season, he scored 7
points (3-5), grabbed 5 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots in 21 minutes (he
also was 1-4 from FT and had two turnovers). This guy can play, plays
hard, and hits open shots, I really believe he needs another look.
Thank god he isn't Spanish, or Skiles would have Pau Gasol on his
back...
NBA Notes: Man, that Golden State vs. Phoenix Suns game was
fun to watch. Monta Ellis was the man in that game, blowing by Steve
Nash like a statue and hitting multiple jumpers over Shawn Marion. Baron Davis has nothing to worry about just yet (he's playing like a beast), but we're seeing a star in the making with Monta Ellis.
News Around the World 11/14/2007: NBA International Report
( interbasket.net) — Yao Ming
leads us off this week as he was named NBA player of the week for
November 12th (Tracy McGrady won the honor the week previous) as Yao
averaged 27.8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. The Houston Rockets
are now 6-2 dropping their second game last night - Darko Milicic went at Yao all night to the tune of a season-high 20 points (and Rudy #### served up a highlight facial on Luis Scola).
Last week I spoke a little too soon about Yao’s early rebounding as a
sign of things to come; in the three games since, he’s averaged only 8.3 a game which is more Yao-like. At least he’s still blocking shots at a much better rate (2.5/game).
Manu Ginobili
continued his fantastic play. He’s averaging 19.5 points, 4.9 rebounds,
4.6 and 2.4 assists assists in just under 29 minutes off the bench. The
Spurs are 7-1 blah blah blah. #### Hum.
Not to be outdone, the other South American super-six man Leandro Barbosa
poured in a career-high 39 points against Orlando Saturday. Barbosa
just wasn’t just busy attacking the basket and hitting threes (he hit
eight), he also had 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in that game.
Barbosa is a####ing 19.1 pts on a career-high (barely) 48.4% from the
field.
What ’s up with Steve Nash
and his scoring binges this season? Is he taking cues from Leandro
Barbosa? Maybe teams are taking the Mavs approach with the
“let-him-shoot-so-he-can’t-involve-his-teammates” or Nash is just being
more aggressive this season? Nash has already scored 30 or more points
this season three times. His efficiency hasn’t suffered any as he’s
shooting a blazing 57.8% from the field overall, 54.3% from three (!)
and has yet to miss a free-throw (20-20) in averaging a career-high
pace of 20.6 ppg. Only bad thing I can say is Nash’s
assists-to-turnover ratio isn’t very Nash-like at 2.1 assists for every
turnover.
Stay in Europe, Rudy! Lots of Spanish NBA players in our news this week, and none of the news is overwhelmingly great news in fact, most of it is bad.
In the last two seasons, Pau Gasol
has averaged 20.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2 blocks a
game. So far this season, Gasol’s stats are down significantly across
those categories. Generally, I don’t make much of early season stats,
particularly points, but sometimes there is something so glaring that I
believe it indicates something larger. Gasol has only blocked a total
of three shots in six games this season - this from a guy that’s
rejected an average of 1.8 per game throughout his career? In the two
losses to Utah and Portland, Gasol had just eight total rebounds in
both games, went scoreless in the second half of both games, and taking
a total of one shot. So why? Is he unhappy with Rudy ####’s more involved
role? Unmotivated by the prospect of another long NBA season without a
chance at a championship? Easier to complain in Spanish when you have
Spanish National team member Juan Carlos Navarro
(who is shooting 28.6% and finally hit his first two-point field goal
last night)? Maybe Gasol is miffed by the conspiracy he insists is
going on with Jorge Garbajosa minutes in Toronto? Not sure.
Speaking of a Spaniard’s declining minutes this season — Nate McMillan’s early season assertion
that Sergio Rodriguez had fallen behind rookie Taurean Green for the
backup PG duties haven’t come to fruition yet. I don’t know if it was
just lip service to fire up Rodriguez, but he referenced Sergio’s lack
of three-point shooting for his reasoning. Though Rodriguez’s minutes
have fallen (12mpg last season compared to about 9 this season), he has
obviously outplayed Taurean Green and impressed the coach enough to
handle at least some of the backup PG duties. This is a good time to
bring up that Rodriquez hit an important three pointer followed by a
layup to put the Blazers up 87-82 in their win over the Pistons last
night. So far, Taurean has only played 2 minutes in the Blazer’s seven
games this season.
I’m sure at least a few of these players are in the ear of Rudy Fernandez, and it can’t be helping his case to come over to the NBA any sooner.
Maybe he just needed to let it off his chest. Andrei Kirilenko
is playing like the old AK-47, his last three games Kirilenko has
averaged 13.3pts, 9.3rebs, 9.3asts, 2.6stls, and 2.6blks. AK’s
statlines for the last three (points, rebounds, assists, steals, and
blocks) look like this- 15-8-8-0-3 against Sacramento, 15-12-9-4-1
against Memphis, 10-8-11-4-3 against Seattle.
Many unfamiliar with the Warriors roster probably wondered why they
traded Jason Richardson away this off-season. J-Rich played such a huge
part in their playoff run last season. Not to diminish Richardson’s
importance, but a big reason why the Golden State management didn’t
flinch was because they had a promising second-year, English player Kelenna Azubuike
on their roster. Kelenna has a smooth jumpshot along with a 40-inch
vertical leap, and the ability to get to the free-throw line (sound
familiar?). Let’s not forget that the decision was a little easier when
they looked at their books; Golden State is paying Kelenna the minimum,
while J-Rich is set to make $11 million this year and 40 million over
the next three years. “We liked him last year. He was just awful
young,” Warriors coach Don Nelson said. “He’s worked hard this summer
and it looks like he’s a player. … A real player.”
By many accounts, it’s not difficult to cheer for a guy like
Azubuike. He’s a nice guy with no-attitude on or off the court and is a
strong aggressive player that plays hard, slashes, and can get to the
rim with regularity. After leaving Kentucky early to help his family
pay for his father’s misdeeds,
Kelenna wasn’t drafted in 2005. He tried to catch on with the the Cavs
and Rockets, but was eventually waived by both teams. On both
occasions, Kelenna landed in the NBDL. He led his team to the
championship and was named all-NBDL in 2005, then led the NBDL in
scoring his second year. The promising guard is averaging 18.8pts, 5.2
rebounds and shooting 53% from the field this year.
Jose Juan Barea
is getting a lot more run this year and he’s doing an efficient job —
shooting 57.1% from the field, leading the league in 3pt% at 70%, 100%
from the FT line (7-7) while averaging 9.7 points a game. However his
biggest strength has thus far been negated; penetration and dishing the
ball. Barea is averaging only 1.4 assists with 1.2 turnovers in his
limited playing time.
Yi Jianlian
continues to impress; playing his best game (statwise) against fellow
countryman Yao Ming. “I hate to say this,” Yao said “but he may be
better than me.” Take it easy Yao, let’s not get crazy yet. Though the
Houston Rockets walked away with the win, Yi gave the Buck’s management
a reason to smile with early career-highs of 19
points, 9 rebounds and tying his high of 3 blocks. Overall Jianlian is
averaging 11.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks and has scored in
double-figures his last four games.
Walter Herrmann
can’t seem to find his range. After skipping out on the Argentine
National Team this summer to focus on his game. With his extra
training. it’s mind-boggling how he hasn’t improved upon his strong
finish to the 06-07 season. Instead Herrmann is shooting a horrendous
23% from the field, and is 0-4 from three this season. Herrmann’s bad
start has him riding the bench, and has recorded DNPs in a couple games
before coming in for garbage time last night against the Miami Heat.
Remember, this was the same way Walter started out last season —
Herrmann displayed little to nothing in the preseason, was on the verge
of being cut, and along with the injuries he sustained added up to a
terrible start. The start continued into his season until after the
halfway mark of last season when he finished so strong that his name
was brought up for Rookie of the Year and not one giggle was heard -
that’s a serious turnaround.
It looks like it might be deja vu this year, hopefully for Herrmann,
the work he put in this summer starts to show sooner than later. Even
though things may have opened up for Herrmann when Adam Morrisson got
hurt, nothing is ever guaranteed as tough-as-nails rookie Jared Dudley
has been taking Herrmann’s minutes and been producing.
Random NBA notes: Ugh, Stephon Marbury. What a
complete fool. I know I am not privy to all the details and this
involves Isiah Thomas, which further muddies the situation, but I can’t
help but jump to conclusions with this guy. When does one become smart
enough to recognize a pattern in their career? It seems every team
Marbury leaves- gets better, and I read that he’s been with 12 coachs
in 12 years — probably none of which have ever been completely
satisfied with his performance. How about them Celtics? An interior
presence, a great outside shooter, and a versatile swingman. Only
unbeaten team at 6-0, not bad, but lets stop all the comparisons to the
mid-80s Celtics. Thanks. With all this talk of rookies Kevin Durant and
Yi Jianlian, don’t forget about Jeff Green. The rookie from Georgetown
is making the most of his time off the Seattle bench and he doesn’t
have the green light a la Durant. Green scored 12 points, all in the
second quarter against Orlando, on an impressive array of jumpers, drives and even a 10-foot hook.
( www.interbasket.net ) -- With a week or so into the NBA season behind us, interbasket is here to
report on the international players making news in the NBA.
Luis Scola
hasn’t shown much with the Houston Rockets thus far (3.4ppg, 4.6rebs,
1ast in 18 min) and all the xenophobes are out. I’ve already heard
this sentence many times “Look at Luis Scola, he is supposed to the be
the best player outside the NBA and…” It is a little shocking to me
that Scola hasn’t done more than he has, making the Spurs keeping Fabricio Oberto
over Scola look genius, but I am very confident that his name will be
in the rookie-of-the-year running by the end of the year. And teams
have better look out because when the 4-1 Houston Rockets mesh him into
their offense (and figure out their point guard situation), they’ll be
a very very tough team to beat.
Speaking of the Houston Rockets, one of the knocks against Rocket’s center is that Yao Ming
has been his lack of toughness, and one can infer that the critics are
looking at Yao’s size and then looking at his career rebounding (8.9)
and blocked shot numbers (1.8) as evidence. Now I understand that he
isn’t the fastest nor most-atheletic person on the court, but
admittedly Yao’s rebounding and blocked shot numbers should be much
better than they are. If the first four games are any indication (and
they normally aren’t) Yao Ming is finally getting it; hitting the
boards (11rpg) and blocking shots (2.6), it looks like Yao may average
a double-double this year, and for only the second time in his six-year
career,
Luis Scola isn’t the only international rookie struggling; he can
take some solace in a a couple other foreign rookies that were expected
to start off a little quicker this season. Spaniard Juan Carlos Navarro of the Memphis Grizzlies was supposed to come in and give familiarity and help to Pau Gasol,
and thus far he has only given the former. La Bomba is only averaging
4.0 on 23% shooting, all four of his field goals in his first three
games have been three-pointers, c’mon Navarro, where’s the floater?
Marco Belinelli
of the Golden State Warriors made waves, no shockwaves, during the NBA
summer league with his smooth quick-release jumper and he surprised
many with his ability to get to the basket on his way to a 37-point
outing. So far, Belinelli is struggling as much as the Warriors are
(0-4). Once the Warriors right the ship, Marco should have time to
adjust and improve on the 13.7 minutes, 4.3 points and 33% from the
field he’s shown early on.
Instead, the mystery of the 2007 draft, Chinese forward Yi Jianlian
has taken the lead as far as international rookies performing. After a
rough first couple games — Yi is showing he can hit the jumpshot, block
a few shots, and gather a lot of fouls in a short amount of time. The
latter can be worked on, but the Bucks love the potential that he has
shown, particularly his ability to hit the long-range jumper. He is
currently third in rookie scoring, behind Kevin Durant and Daequan
Cook, averaging 9.8ppg on 44% shooting as well as 4.8 rebounds, 2.0
blocks (4 fouls) in 26 minutes. Yi was #2 in Nba.com’s rookie report
for the first week of the season. Not bad!
Hey, anyone remember Peja Stojakovic?
Let me refresh your memory, Stojakovic was THE international player
several years ago. But now four years later, a couple injuries, and
two teams removed from his glory days in Sacramento, Peja’s reputation
has since suffered. Though his stats arent’t bad, Peja is no longer
mentioned in the top ten international NBA players, and maybe not even
top-15. How the three-time all-star is getting a fresh start and
running small forward for the New Orlenas Hornets. Peja has been
inconsistent in his first five games, but his game against the Lakers
deserves a mention, Peja went off for 36 points in their win. With
Chris Paul running the show and dishing, Peja hit 10-13 threes to set a
Hornets franchise record and to let the league know that Peja is still
around. Peja is only 30 years old, I hope he finds his way back up the
ladder to one of the elite international NBA players.
Manu Ginobili
is playing like a man possessed. Despite coming off the bench;
everyone in the league knows that Ginobili will be there to finish the
game. In just under 30 minutes per game, Manu is putting up 20.8
points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.6 steals. He spent the summer
resting instead of playing for his National Team and his performances
this season is showing what a rested Ginobili brings to the table “At
this point, I can really tell the difference” Ginobili said about how
rested his body has felt from taking the summer off. --Stuart Leung
( interbasket.net ) -- One of my favorite sports journalists (besides Mitch Albom and Jack
McCallum) is Mike Kahn at Foxsports. Kahn always has well-written and
insightful articles. His weekly Ten Things about the NBA is a must-read for me. Needless to say, I really respect his knowledge and understanding of the game.
Kahn listed his Top-50 NBA players
today and international players comprised 20% of the top 30 (six) —
Steve Nash of Canada (#4), Dirk Nowitzki of Germany (6), China’s Yao
Ming (9), Tony Parker of France (17) Argentina’s Manu Ginobili (25) and
the Spaniard Pau Gasol (28). Luol Deng of Sudan (England) was the only other
international player listed in the top 50 (#34).
News Around the World 10/31/2007: Belinelli, Scola Debut
( interbasket.net ) -- NBA Season Commences (International NBA Players Recap) - The NBA started it’s 2007-08 season last night with three games on the schedule.
The San Antonio Spurs received their 06-07 championship rings and
defeated the Greg Oden-less Portland Trailblazers 106-97. The Spurs
international players were huge in the win; Frenchman Tony Parker
scored 19 points, Manu Ginobili (Argentina) had 16 points, 8 assists and 5 steals, and Francisco Elson (Netherlands) scored 9 points with 5 rebounds.
Argentine superstar Luis Scola
made his debut with the reloaded Houston Rockets in their 95-93 win
over the Los Angeles Lakers. The former Tau Ceramica superstar played
only 8 minutes and accumulated 3 personal fouls, 3 rebounds and 1
turnover. “The court is different, the rules are different, the
players, everything is different,” Scola said. “But at the end of the
day, it’s just basketball.” I’m confident that Scola will find his way
- after all he was the ACB MVP and Fiba America’s MVP in 2007. Source: Luis Scola Set for NBA Debut (FIBA)
Yao Ming scored two critical baskets towards the end of the game and
finished with 25 points, 12 rebound, 3 assists and 3 blocks helping the
Rockets to overcome 45 points from Kobe Bryant.
Andrei Kirilenko
was back with the Utah Jazz and showed little effect from his
publicized trade demands over the offseason. The Russian 2007
Eurobasket MVP put up a typical statline — 9 points, 9 rebounds, 8
assists and 5 blocks in a 117-96 win over the Golden State Warriors.
This game also featured the debut of Marco Belinelli.
The rookie from Italy had an eye-opening summer league for Golden State
averaging 22.8 points (including a 37 point summer league debut), but
Marco only saw 12 minutes in his NBA debut and scored 6 points. French
hold-out Mickael Pietrus score 17 points and grab 5 rebounds for the Golden State Warriors.
( interbasket.net ) - With the start of the 2007-08 NBA season upon us, I’m sure David Stern has taken notice of a pattern from this off-season. I’m not talking about perennial Kobe Bryant drama or the KG trade, this involves names that aren’t all household names, but the direction of the moves are making the NBA Commissioner a little more than uneasy.
This 2007 summer has seen a number of players who have either left the NBA for leagues in Europe or have used the European leagues as leverage in their contract negotiations. Every day we come closer to the start of NBA training camps, and NBA heads should pay close attention to several situations that have already past and more importantly, to the outstanding issues that have yet to be resolved.
Vasillis Spanoulis, the little-used Greek guard that was pivotal in defeating Team USA at the 2006 World Championships and a benchwarmer for the Houston Rockets last season, has already decided he would rather return to Panathinaikos of the Greek league rather that ride the bench for another team in Texas - the San Antonio Spurs (the team he was traded to).NBa and the Euroleague
Not that big of news right? I agree. In of itself, it’s another case of Arvydas Macijauskas, a player that will be easily forgotten in the US. Though Macijauskas is a huge star in Europe, he never gained any traction in the NBA as the Lithuanian sharpshooter rode the bench for New Orleans during the 05-06 season. Macas, as he is known, chose to return to Europe after that one season. He chose more playing time rather than earning his time in the NBA. It makes more sense. It’s a matter of what’s best for the player in the short-term. That’s more than likely how Spanoulis will be remembered.
However in early September, Sarunas Jasikevicius, the Lithuanian guard that led his home-country Lithuania qualify for the 2008 Olympics, asked the Golden State Warriors to release or trade him. The Warriors chose the former and waived Jasikevicius.
Since then, the European superstar has returned to the Euroleague and hasn’t missed a step, joining Spanoulis in Panathinaikos backcourt. Again, nothing earth-shattering, but Jasikevicius was one of the many international players that had a reputation in the NBA. If Sarunas had stayed, he could have found a job in the NBA - there are several NBA teams looking for an experienced leader on the floor and a proven winner.
At this point, you may be asking yourself “What are you getting at?”
Add Sasha Pavlovic to the mix. The guard-forward who had a breakout last season with Cleveland cannot come to terms with the Cavs on his contract extension. If the two sides don’t get any closer to signing a contract, Pavlovic and his agent have made it clear that they are ready to do more than just entertain talks with European teams that are interested in the Serbian’s services. As of this post, Pavlovic has missed every one of Cleveland’s preseason games.
Then there’s the case of Andrei Kirilenko, who led Russia to a gold medal at this year’s Eurobasket. The Eurobasket MVP announced through a Russian blog that he is willing to drop the remaining amount of his $63m contract and head back to Europe rather than returning to Salt Lake City to endure another season of Jerry Sloan. The former NBA all-star was explicit and adamant about his position and AK can certainly play anywhere in the world. AK has since been tight-lipped and is participating in Utah’s summer leagues and camp.
If it was only Spanoulis and Jasikevicius leaving, many would simplify the moves as frustrated Europeans unable to make it in the NBA. However, if an up-and-coming player like Pavlovic and former NBA All-Star Kirilenko decides to head home to play, I believe that signifies a trend that would immediately dilute the NBA talent pool and give rise to a competing league.
Just a five-six years ago, no one would believe that an
international player returning home would dilute NBA talent. In fact it
was more likely that they would believe it would actually enhance the
NBA’s talent pool. Back then, it was arguable. Now, however, is a
different era and the same xenophobic attitude will get you laughed out
of serious basketball conversations.
With the influx of international superstars into the NBA (Nowitzki,
Yao Ming, Manu Ginobili, Steve Nash), national teams from around the
world defeating the US in international competitions becoming less
jaw-dropping. And some of the top-European clubs defeating NBA teams in
friendly matches (Maccabi Tel Aviv defeating the Toronto Raptors (2005), FC Barcelona topping the Philadelphia 76ers (2006), and CSKA Moscow defeating the LA Clippers (2006)), there is no doubt that basketball is on more equal footing globally.
And that balance is especially apparent in the European leagues where the development and talent is second only to the NBA.
Though the best outside the USA, European leagues were historically
where older NBA players would see their last playing days out. They
were leagues for players no longer ready for prime-time or players
whose NBA careers never even began. Players that fell under these
categories included the likes of former UCLA-star Tyus Edney, Dominique Wilkins, Bob McAdoo, Toronto Raptor Anthony Parker, Louis Bullock, Scoonie Penn, and Trajan Langdon.
And it wasn’t only because the talent wasn’t strong in Europe, it
was also because the money wasn’t comparable nor as stable in Europe.
With the shrinking dollar against the Euro and the rising popularity of
basketball globally, that barrier isn’t nearly as obvious any longer.
And that is most apparent in the rumor reported by the Detroit Free
Press recently - Chris Webber has been offered a two-year contract by
Greek club Olympiakos for reportedly $10-12m/season. Not chump change
by any standard. If true, it would make Chris Webber the highest-paid
American player in Europe EVER. (Webber has sinced turned the offer
down)
It seems as if the scales may be tipping a little more in favor of
the European leagues. If the aforementioned players leave, it could be
an epiphany for other players (and their agents) like Anderson Varejao from Brazil and other free agents yet to sign for the upcoming season.
And it’s not just the European players; it’s becoming an issue for
even American-born players. Just these last couple months, three NBA
players (including Webber) made waves by utilizing the Euroleagues as
leverage for their NBA negotiations.
Charlie Bell, a former Michigan State player and current Milwaukee
Buck, threatened to sign with Greek team Olympiakos in order to escape
the Bucks. Bell isn’t a superstar, but he did average a respectable
13.5 points, 3 rebs, 3 assts and 1.2 steals last year - some NBA team
definitely could use him. Now, I realize that could have been a ploy by
Bell to get the Bucks to release him from his contract (they didn’t,
they matched the offer sheet by the Miami Heat), but the fact that he
and his agent used Olympiakos as leverage shows that this isn’t your
father’s Euroleague anymore.
There is the case of Dee Brown, the former Illinois-star and
promising, young NBA player decided to leave the Utah Jazz in favor of
Turkish club Galatasaray. Dee Brown, a bench player last season, says
it’s only temporary and hopes to catch on with another NBA club next
year.
Sure Webber declined the offer from Greece, and Kirilenko is in the
same NBA jersey despite his threats, as is Charlie Bell. I also believe
that Pavlovic and Varejao are likely to sign with the Cavs, it’s just a
matter of when. Americans will forget the loss of Spanoulis and
Jasikevicius, but the soft line has been drawn this past off-season.
What was unthinkable 6-7 years ago has become status quo. The next
natural move is for more and more players to not just threaten to leave
the NBA, but to leave the NBA for the leagues in Europe....click here to finish the article
