Just imagine for a second that you are a professional athlete and the best league with the best players in the world happens to be in Russia. Or for that matter, imagine that you are in ANY field and you're offered a job working/competing with the best in your field while making similar pay (or even better pay) to what you're making now but it's in Russia. Would you leave your friends, family, home and everything you know to move to a country with a vastly different culture and a language you don't even speak? Oh, and guess what? You've got to convince your girlfriend/wife to move there too even though she has absolutely no reason to want to move there. And for the record, there are places in Russia I would move to before I'd consider moving to Florida. Another aspect you guys are overlooking is the fact that these guys grew up as fans of the teams they play on in Europe. They had heroes playing on those teams just like we had heroes on the Rockets. If you had the chance to play for the Rockets or make more money playing on a European team, which would you choose? I know we're raised to believe that the United States is the greatest country in the world, but guess what? They aren't raised to believe that. Besides, I think that as often as foreign players come here to play with the best athletes in the world they come because they can make more money here than they can in their home country. Apparently that isn't always the case anymore so I won't be surprised to see this kind of scenario more and more in the future. Finally, doesn't Fran Vasquez play in Barcelona? I lived there for six months and I'd do just about anything to get back there and live out the rest of my days there. I'd take considerably less money to live there and I'm not even from there. Hell, I can barely even speak any Spanish at all. Why should a guy be expected to leave paradise? As to what Clutch said - Yeah. It would suck giant donkey balls to use your first round pick on a guy who decides he doesn't want to come to the U.S. Thank god that didn't happen with Yao.
My take is if that dude didnt intend to come, then he shouldnt enter the draft. Or he should make it clear to any team that worked him out he might not be willing to play in USA. And that dude was projected as a lottery pick in that year. It's a little irresponsible.
I'd agree with that. But don't players become eligible for the draft at a certain age regardless of whether or not they've declared? Anybody know how that works? I don't even know for sure than Fran Vasquez did declare for the draft.
Good post. You really can't knock someone for taking more dough to stay at home near all their family and friends. There is more to life than playing in the league, especially when ya getting a fat paycheck....
I think with internationals they meet with their management to clear up any potential legal issues and such before the draft. http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_local_news/2006/05/smith_we_were_d.html
Players that have eligibilities for the nba draft need to declare themselves to enter the draft. That's totally under the players control. If a player enters the draft and gets undrafted, then he becomes a free agent. For International players, I think if they have played certain years and reached certain age, they will also become free agents. I hope I remember it right. International players
ie. 1.1 mill Euros? per year? Taxed? i.e. about 450 000 euros per year? The guy is getting 1.3 mill euros untaxed in Barcelona.... Thanks for proving my point
Maybe, that's a rookie contract. He's big pay day will come after four years. Any big man of any good will get pay handsomely in nba: eg. Kwame "butter finger" Brown - 3 years 9 mils per; Sam Dalembert (an awkward big man with too long arms) 6 years 10 mils per.
Yeah...but he's not "any good" (in NBA terms)...Read my post earlier about my opinion of him...And look at his stats...he has a decent FG% but that's as representative as Chuck Hayes having the highest FG% in the Rockets this season. Nothing else is even remotely special about him
