According to Fox 26's Mark Berman, Yao's agent Erik Zhang said, "We have made our final offer. We expect to hear back fromthe club tomorrow and have scheduled a news conference for Saturday evening (China time). He and Yao remain optimistic." Rockets' attorney Michael Goldberg said, "I am confident that all three parties are acting in good faith. I am confident they will reach an agreement."
So Saturday morning Houston time. Sounds good if they have scheduled a press conference. If they expected that the offer would not be excepted then they would keep negotiating.
For once, I remain optimistic also. It makes zero sense for China to keep Ming out of the NBA, especially over money. He'll make far more for them and himself in today's NBA market. They should want to show him off, not keep him in servitude. Having said all that, my optimism is probably the kiss of death.
Point well taken micah!!! In this case, because of the time limits involved it might be though, because of the Rockets wanting at LEAST 48hrs clearance from the FIBA
This isn't a positive or negative sign. Zhang said that they would hold the press conference whether they got a contract signed or not. He said that they believe it isn't fair to make the Rockets wait longer than that.
You mean I have to wait another 36 hours?! You guys promised me we'd hear the definitive results tonight! WAhhh! aw, hell. It's all good.
I'm optimistic. The best thing about this final hurdle is that clearing it all lies on what Yao Ming truly wants to do. If the higher-ups in China are demanding a 75%-25% salary share (this is worst case, mind you....), and he really wants to fulfill his dream of playing in the NBA, then he'll accept the deal, no matter how unfair. It's all relative in his eyes anyways; he'll still be getting a substantially larger paycheck come next year. Honor comes into play as well; it doesn't reflect too well on them if they deny Yao admittance into the NBA after entertaining the Rockets' sallies for the past 2 weeks. There's too much to lose on their end by undermining Yao from going #1. I don't think 'final offer' would be the correct terminology either. If they have minor qualms with what Yao's representation has presented, I'm sure they'll amend the deal.
I have a suspicion that this is all in the bag, that everyone has come to terms and the press conference will be all positive. Probably Ming passed over his "final" offer and the Sharks said...hmmm...looks good, let us think about it. Everyone in China apparently wants him to play here too, and I do belive that Rudy and CD and "G" impressed them with their respectful demanors. Ming is the thing....... DaDakota
Interesting stuff: I know several lawyers and some who are sports lawyers (representing sports agents, players and entities), and theatrical lawyers (representing well ... you know ). They gave me a pretty decent heqads-up on all this intrique, bartering and legalese mumbojumbo. The point is ... when you are dealing with international law based on more than two national law platforms it is very difficult to put a contract together. The language is so ... "foreign" shall I say ... that it is hard to formulate a contract that encompasses language that is acceptable (- read that as enforceable- in a court) for both parties. Much more difficult when you have a vertible plethora of "interested parties" involved such as this case. Just as an example: How do you enforce a contractual obligation that the main party - an individual (Ming,for instance) must play a certain amount (preseason, regular. playoffs) of games to get full compensation ... a sliding scale pro rata rate? ... who decides which games are more "valuable" to the team? To the contract? To the parties involved? And, if he doesn't fullfill his (private citizen Ming) obligations because of a third party interest (your national leader(s)) who is culpable for the injury suffered? The point is it is a very tricky piece of legal hardware to wade through. If G does this he will elevate his practice astronomically. Anyway, just wanted to put my two cents worth into the passed hat of opinion. Opinion: I think it's a done deal. G is known for understatement and a lot of people ... maybe me included ... missed the tangible importance that the Chinese officials placed on getting a deal like this done. It opens a lot of doors, establishes a precedent ... for other athletes ... artisans ... etc ... They should be commended as MUCH as their Rockets/US State Department/NBA counterparts if this comes off. (Which as I opinionated - I think it will without much pain.)
great post, Oeilpere. I know I haven't given consideration to how difficult putting this altogether is, conflicts of interests aside. Your confidence definitely bolsters my confidence (not that I was really, critically worried or anything although no one will believe me about that)
Does anybody really think that China cares at all about the money they will take out of Ming's pockets? That's like nothing. Remember, we're talking China with "how-many" billion people? I know they are a poor nation, but really.... China's "insistence" on Ming going #1 is because he is a rare talent and this is about like Haley's Comet. See ya in 80+ years! This is just cross-cultural clutter. Ming and a ring!
