Wow, two sports posts in one day? I know, call me one dimensional. Truth is, I was planning on posting this thought today, and when the Favre news hit, I just couldn’t resist. Rest assured, though I might mention sports every now and again, this is by no means an exclusive sports blog. Breathe easy, female readership (read: Mom).
I wanted to mention this, because it’s a fascinating story in the early stages of its development, and its implications are far beyond the realm of sports. It seems quite a few people are choosing to play ball in Europe rather than the NBA. For those of you new to the story, let me catch you up to date.
The craze started a few months ago when Brandon Jennings, one the top 5 high school recruits in the country (ranked #1 by some services), reneged on his commitment to Arizona to sign with an Italian team. Most people still expect him to declare for the NBA draft next year, but he has set a precedent for high school recruits looking to get around the one-and-done rule. Why go to college and make a mockery of an educational institution by labeling yourself a “student-athlete” (seriously?) for nine months when you can essentially take a year-long vacation, make some euros, and dunk on some Serbian fools? I’d certainly be tempted.
People have noticed this was an option ever since the one-and-done rule was put into effect, but Jennings is the only player (at least certainly the most notable) to actually take advantage of it. But the story doesn’t stop there. Ever since Jennings’ decision, several NBA players have left the league for the seemingly greener pastures of the Euro-league. Carlos Arroyo (formerly of the Orlando Magic) recently signed to play with a team in Tel-Aviv, and Earl Boykins (a 10-year veteran most recently with the Charlotte Bobcats) just became Italy’s Virtus Bologna’s (insert lunchmeat joke here) highest paid player, making around $3.5 million for the upcoming season.
So what’s the big deal? Is the league really mourning the loss of Carlos Arroyo and Earl Boykins? Not really. It’s part of a growing trend of parity on the global stage, though. Americans were shocked to discover that other countries actually had players on par with the USA’s best when the Americans were defeated in the 2004 Olympics twice, earning a bronze medal for their efforts, and bested again in the 2006 World Championships. That was one thing, but now to have players like Boykins, who’s never played outside the NBA in his career, be lured overseas is cause for a little concern.
But it gets worse. The biggest name to head overseas recently is ex-Atlanta Hawk’s forward Josh Childress. He’s not exactly a household name, but he was a solid contributor for the Hawks (who nearly upset the champion Boston Celtics this year in the playoffs), and was the 6th overall draft pick taken in the 2004 NBA draft. He’s no scrub. He’s no slouch, either, as he’s now making about $20 million over 3 years for Greek powerhouse Olympiacos.
But the biggest news of all is that reports have surface that LeBron James, the king himself, would entertain offers to play in Europe “for a year or two” when he becomes a free agent in 2010. In fact, he’s already talked to teams in Moscow and the aforementioned Olympiacos team in Greece. Now, his condition is that the offer is for $50 million per year, but still. Can you imagine the fallout if the NBA’s golden boy ditched the league to play in Europe? Commissioner David Stern would have a stroke.
See, lots of NBA players leave to play in Europe. This year alone, the following players have left for European pastures: Nenad Krstic, Juan Carlos Navarro, Jorge Garbajosa, Carlos Delfino, Bostjan Nachbar, and Primoz Brezec, in addition to the above named players. But even the casual observer will note a common thread in these guys: they ain’t from ‘round these parts. They all came from overseas, and played for professional squads over there. Their leaving isn’t that big of a concern, because it’s happened for years, and it makes sense. But Josh Childress played ball at Stanford, and grew up in California. LeBron James is from Akron, Ohio -- how less foreign can he be?
So why would these guys leave the greatest league on earth to play for such “lesser” teams? Well, it actually makes a lot of sense. For one, at the time of this writing, $1 is worth about 0.65 euros, and that’s the highest I’ve seen it in a while. Also, the money in Europe is essentially tax free, as teams usually pay their athletes’ taxes for them. Also typically in the deal is a free house and car. And to top it all off, there is no salary cap in Europe. Some team would actually be allowed to pay LeBron $50 mil, if they could afford it (and it’s not out of the question by any means). No NBA team can even hope to match that. For comparison, the salary cap last year was set at $55.63 million per team. Match a $50 million offer, and you couldn’t afford to pay me. OK, you could afford me, but not much else. And yes, I know there are salary cap exceptions, but my point still stands. No salary cap > salary cap.
Plus, if you were an athlete in the prime of your life, where would you rather live? Cleveland, Ohio or Athens, Greece (home of Olympiacos)? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
But here’s my point in all this: where does it end?
Undoubtedly, once the collective bargaining agreement is up in 2011, there will be an outcry from the players to boost the salary cap (or eliminate it) to compete with the money being offered overseas. But is that really the solution? Pay our professional athletes more money? I would imagine the average working man would balk at that, rightfully so. After all, increased salaries ultimately mean increased ticket prices, and a quick glance at the economy today suggests that isn’t exactly a change people would be welcome to.
Is catering to our athletes even more really what America needs? This is the problem inherent with America – indeed, with capitalism itself. There is no possible way to satisfy the greed of human beings. Every year athletes are whining and pouting that they’re not being paid enough when they’ve already seen more money than 99% of the world will ever see. In the 2007-2008 season, Shaquille O’Neal made about $21 million. The country of Tuvalu, a small nation in the Polynesian islands, posted a GDP in 2007 of $15 million. Think Tuvalu is insignificant? What about Zimbabwe? They’re only worth about 30 Shaqs. And they have more than 13 million people living there. 1.8 million of them live with HIV, and the life expectancy for females is 34 (males are 37).
Something is wrong here.
I wanted to mention this, because it’s a fascinating story in the early stages of its development, and its implications are far beyond the realm of sports. It seems quite a few people are choosing to play ball in Europe rather than the NBA. For those of you new to the story, let me catch you up to date.
The craze started a few months ago when Brandon Jennings, one the top 5 high school recruits in the country (ranked #1 by some services), reneged on his commitment to Arizona to sign with an Italian team. Most people still expect him to declare for the NBA draft next year, but he has set a precedent for high school recruits looking to get around the one-and-done rule. Why go to college and make a mockery of an educational institution by labeling yourself a “student-athlete” (seriously?) for nine months when you can essentially take a year-long vacation, make some euros, and dunk on some Serbian fools? I’d certainly be tempted.
People have noticed this was an option ever since the one-and-done rule was put into effect, but Jennings is the only player (at least certainly the most notable) to actually take advantage of it. But the story doesn’t stop there. Ever since Jennings’ decision, several NBA players have left the league for the seemingly greener pastures of the Euro-league. Carlos Arroyo (formerly of the Orlando Magic) recently signed to play with a team in Tel-Aviv, and Earl Boykins (a 10-year veteran most recently with the Charlotte Bobcats) just became Italy’s Virtus Bologna’s (insert lunchmeat joke here) highest paid player, making around $3.5 million for the upcoming season.
So what’s the big deal? Is the league really mourning the loss of Carlos Arroyo and Earl Boykins? Not really. It’s part of a growing trend of parity on the global stage, though. Americans were shocked to discover that other countries actually had players on par with the USA’s best when the Americans were defeated in the 2004 Olympics twice, earning a bronze medal for their efforts, and bested again in the 2006 World Championships. That was one thing, but now to have players like Boykins, who’s never played outside the NBA in his career, be lured overseas is cause for a little concern.
But it gets worse. The biggest name to head overseas recently is ex-Atlanta Hawk’s forward Josh Childress. He’s not exactly a household name, but he was a solid contributor for the Hawks (who nearly upset the champion Boston Celtics this year in the playoffs), and was the 6th overall draft pick taken in the 2004 NBA draft. He’s no scrub. He’s no slouch, either, as he’s now making about $20 million over 3 years for Greek powerhouse Olympiacos.
But the biggest news of all is that reports have surface that LeBron James, the king himself, would entertain offers to play in Europe “for a year or two” when he becomes a free agent in 2010. In fact, he’s already talked to teams in Moscow and the aforementioned Olympiacos team in Greece. Now, his condition is that the offer is for $50 million per year, but still. Can you imagine the fallout if the NBA’s golden boy ditched the league to play in Europe? Commissioner David Stern would have a stroke.
See, lots of NBA players leave to play in Europe. This year alone, the following players have left for European pastures: Nenad Krstic, Juan Carlos Navarro, Jorge Garbajosa, Carlos Delfino, Bostjan Nachbar, and Primoz Brezec, in addition to the above named players. But even the casual observer will note a common thread in these guys: they ain’t from ‘round these parts. They all came from overseas, and played for professional squads over there. Their leaving isn’t that big of a concern, because it’s happened for years, and it makes sense. But Josh Childress played ball at Stanford, and grew up in California. LeBron James is from Akron, Ohio -- how less foreign can he be?
So why would these guys leave the greatest league on earth to play for such “lesser” teams? Well, it actually makes a lot of sense. For one, at the time of this writing, $1 is worth about 0.65 euros, and that’s the highest I’ve seen it in a while. Also, the money in Europe is essentially tax free, as teams usually pay their athletes’ taxes for them. Also typically in the deal is a free house and car. And to top it all off, there is no salary cap in Europe. Some team would actually be allowed to pay LeBron $50 mil, if they could afford it (and it’s not out of the question by any means). No NBA team can even hope to match that. For comparison, the salary cap last year was set at $55.63 million per team. Match a $50 million offer, and you couldn’t afford to pay me. OK, you could afford me, but not much else. And yes, I know there are salary cap exceptions, but my point still stands. No salary cap > salary cap.
Plus, if you were an athlete in the prime of your life, where would you rather live? Cleveland, Ohio or Athens, Greece (home of Olympiacos)? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
But here’s my point in all this: where does it end?
Undoubtedly, once the collective bargaining agreement is up in 2011, there will be an outcry from the players to boost the salary cap (or eliminate it) to compete with the money being offered overseas. But is that really the solution? Pay our professional athletes more money? I would imagine the average working man would balk at that, rightfully so. After all, increased salaries ultimately mean increased ticket prices, and a quick glance at the economy today suggests that isn’t exactly a change people would be welcome to.
Is catering to our athletes even more really what America needs? This is the problem inherent with America – indeed, with capitalism itself. There is no possible way to satisfy the greed of human beings. Every year athletes are whining and pouting that they’re not being paid enough when they’ve already seen more money than 99% of the world will ever see. In the 2007-2008 season, Shaquille O’Neal made about $21 million. The country of Tuvalu, a small nation in the Polynesian islands, posted a GDP in 2007 of $15 million. Think Tuvalu is insignificant? What about Zimbabwe? They’re only worth about 30 Shaqs. And they have more than 13 million people living there. 1.8 million of them live with HIV, and the life expectancy for females is 34 (males are 37).
Something is wrong here.
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