They are pulling talent from the rest of the world, so it's not that unrealistic. Look at how many foreign players have made the NBA in the last 5 years. As the sport grows abroad, the talent will only increase.
whoa whoa whoa. i think you got those pics in the reverse order. first hottest and goes down from there...imo
Having lived in Europe, I can tell you it's great and has a lot of history. You can drive a couple hours and be in a different country with a whole new culture. It's a great place to live even in Russia. Oh, and they have arenas too!
Believe it or not, the NBA isn't worth more than money to some guys. I mean, it really isn't suprising that a foreigner took a lot more money to not play ball in America. I know Russia isn't his homeplace....but they are paying him more and it's still outside of the USA.
don't fool yourself, sammy. there are european teams with almost the same financial background as some nba teams. european arenas get bigger and more modern (they already have the more fanatic fans here). the level of play gets better as well. not only because the international basketball is closing the gap, but also because more and more good players will choose a european league over the nba because of different reasons (money, cultural experience, fewer games, easier to make it, easier to be a star player, ...). it started with players, who couldn't make it in the nba. now, it has come to college prospects (jennings) and nba role players. a lot of european talents don't want to come over right away (reasons: 1. money, 2. their basketball skills are developed better in europe). some european stars don't want to come over as well (reasons: 1. money, 2. fame). a lot of people say that the best basketball is already played in europe, not in the nba (which still is the most spectecular league and has the best athletes). european teams have already beaten nba teams in the preseason. all indicators make it pretty clear. the european top teams are closing the gap every day. the new rule changes are another step in the right direction. of course, the day when an nba superstar will announce that he's going over to europe is still far, far away, but if everything develops like in the last couple of years it will come. maybe even sooner than all of you think. there is a reason david stern is planning expansion teams in europe...
I lived in Europe and completely agree. It's a beautiful continent. However, I don't think Arenas is there.. he's still a free agent.
He wasn't serious. And no, Russia is not a country you want to live in. In fact the whole former Soviet block is still pretty pathetic. But other Western European countries are good.
I was being sarcastic. Saying a player is better than Luther is "faint praise". It's almost like an insult because if that's all you can say about Delfino, he ain't very good.
euro's will go back to europe because the dollar is weak right now. they will be paid more money over there, plus they will be bigger stars. it's a no brainer. now if the dollar gets even weaker, i wouldn't be surprised to see some lower level american talent go over there for more money / fame. a guy like tyron lue for example. however the best talent will want to stay in the nba because even with the weak dollar the nba can still pay top players more money. no european league (or even the euro league itself) can pay the equivalent of a max contract in the nba, even with the euro being stronger than the dollar by almost 50%. what needs to happen is stern has to start branching the nba off into europe. he says that's on his 10 year plan, but the way things are going he needs to put that on a 5 year plan.
They've done this since the 1970's and it hasn't happened yet. NBA team valuations range from about 300 mm to 600mm. In Europe I'd be surprised if you could find a single club worth of 100mm - as a consequence team salaries are in the 10-15 mm range. In other words Yao gets paid more than an entire team. they're about the size of US college arenas - who cares? Almost every one of the things you mentioned has happened since the 1970's. The bit of silliness about Europeans having the "best" basketball is worthy of futher derision here though - yeah since Europeans don't dunk as much their basketball is obviously the "best" - can you say racial subtext? I'll believe an expansion team in Europe when I see it. Given the negative economic situation both in the U.S. and in Europe it's going to be a very tough sell.
Try $18 million. From yahoo. http://espanol.news.yahoo.com/s/170...-delfino-acept-jugar-rusia-ganar-m-s-gin.html Delfino aceptó jugar en Rusia y ganará más que Ginóbili 18 de julio de 2008, 02:00 AM Después de mucha intriga y tensión, tras inumerables negociaciones y luego de deshojar la margarita durante dos semanas, Carlos Delfino se reunió ayer con su agente en la Argentina, Angel Cerisola, de la empresa U1ST Sports, y bajó el martillo: eligió al subcampeón ruso, Khimki, para jugar durante los próximos tres años. Para descartar las ofertas de Detroit (12.000.000 de dólares por tres años) y de Olympiakos, de Grecia, el escolta santafecino consideró dos cosas importantes: primero, el monto de 30.000.000 de dólares por un contrato de tres años, y, segundo, la posibilidad de contar con una rescisión automática del convenio al final de cada temporada si aparece una oferta tentadora de la NBA. "Soy joven y sé que la NBA siempre es una oportunidad. Me hubiese gustado seguir allí, pero no se dieron las cosas", comentó el ex Toronto Raptors. Esos 10.000.000 de dólares que percibirá Delfino por cada temporada en el equipo donde actuó hace dos años el chaqueño Rubén Wolkowyski, superan el monto que cobrará durante la campaña 2008/09 el bahiense Emanuel Ginóbili en San Antonio. A Manu le corresponderán esta temporada 9.900.000, pero en los Estados Unidos existen más retenciones e impuestos que en Rusia, por lo tanto la diferencia a favor del santafecino es mayor aún. Se calcula que debitados las cargas fiscales, Delfino recibirá en mano aproximadamente 7.300.000 dólares. Esa cifra convierte a Delfino en el tercer mejor contrato de un basquetbolista en Europa, detrás del griego Theodoros Papaloukas, de Olympiakos, y Sarunas Jasikevicius, de Panatinaikos, ambos de Grecia. El contrato con Khimki, con sede en las afueras de Moscú, se firmará el lunes próximo, en Madrid, donde el seleccionado nacional se concentrará desde pasado mañana para medirse con España, el martes venidero, en el primer amistoso en tierras europeas antes de viajar a Pekín. La rúbrica se realizará en la sede de la empresa que maneja sus derechos (U1ST Sports), que además tiene otros tres basquetbolistas ubicados en el club ruso. Seguramente este arreglo significará un gran alivio para el santafecino, que de ahora en más podrá abocarse plenamente al trabajo en el seleccionado nacional, concentrarse en los Juegos Olímpicos y empezar a jugar. Delfino no había querido arriesgar antes de tener firmado el contrato y por eso no disputó los amistosos en Rosario, el Luna Park y Mar del Plata. * "No tengo miedo, pero me canso rápido", dijo Manu Manu Ginóbili va encontrando su mejor forma física muy lentamente y sin dolores en el tobillo. "Es un proceso lento, progresivo y hay que hacerlo con inteligencia, sin apuros. Lo importante es que no pienso en la lesión cuando me entreno. No tengo miedo, pero me canso rápido. No puedo seguirles el ritmo a mis compañeros". Y agregó: "Cuando estás cansado podés hacer movimientos inadecuados y perjudicarte". Basic translation is he will make $30 million US dollars gross over 3 years. Because the taxes are much less he will make $7.3 million US dollars net, which is much more than an NBA player would make in the US at the same salary. Also he now makes a bigger base salary than any Argentinian player this upcoming season, even Manu. <anu makes $9,900,000 next year and Delfino makes $10 million next year. Also the most any NBA team offered was 3 years $12 million, which was the Detroit Pistons, his old team. So try $18 million more in salary, and add in the tax difference and it's probably more like $20 million more.
You are way off. Guess what, I've never been in the USA. I don't know how dangerous Detroit is. All I know is that NBA>>>any other league. So if you offer me 10 million to play in a ****ty league or 3 million (which he probably could have gotten) to play in the NBA, it's the NBA for me every single time. This thread has showed me that the majority of people value money way more than I do. And further, as Easy said, the whole Soviet Block is still pathetic (though yes, I've never been to Russia). I would know, I've been born and raised there. And regarding my sig, it's only in relation to the Rockets.
