Author Topic: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread  (Read 6860 times)

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Offline screwedupmaniac

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I've been waiting for someone else to start this, and maybe i'm alone on this one. but i am sick and tired of watching our home grown American players get stolen from the NBA because Europe is willing to pay them more. It's getting to the point that NBA players are going to have to start signing contracts both with the team they play with, AND an agreement with the NBA that they won't jump ship. i understand if you aren't good enough for the NBA, but to sign overseas all for the money is just rediculous. the chinese and euro players we get aren't simply all about the money...it's about chasing a dream to play in the National Basketball Association, the greatest basketball organization on earth. i watched a young and promising Josh Childress leave the NBA and the Hawks, and sign with Olympikaos and didn't say anything. But when reports that Olympikaos is willing to throw 40 million dollars at LeBron James, the face of the NBA and the best thing to happen since MJ, I can't take it anymore. I'm obsessed with the C's, but I love the league as a whole as well, and to watch it get torn apart by overseas offers is just ludicrous to me. since when do they have this surplus of money to buy our players away??

then again, if a player like childress is all about the money, then maybe it's not such a bad thing to let him go...
« Last Edit: August 02, 2008, 05:52:17 PM by wdleehi »

Offline cdif911

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I've been waiting for someone else to start this, and maybe i'm alone on this one. but i am sick and tired of watching our home grown American players get stolen from the NBA because Europe is willing to pay them more. It's getting to the point that NBA players are going to have to start signing contracts both with the team they play with, AND an agreement with the NBA that they won't jump ship. i understand if you aren't good enough for the NBA, but to sign overseas all for the money is just rediculous. the chinese and euro players we get aren't simply all about the money...it's about chasing a dream to play in the National Basketball Association, the greatest basketball organization on earth. i watched a young and promising Josh Childress leave the NBA and the Hawks, and sign with Olympikaos and didn't say anything. But when reports that Olympikaos is willing to throw 40 million dollars at LeBron James, the face of the NBA and the best thing to happen since MJ, I can't take it anymore. I'm obsessed with the C's, but I love the league as a whole as well, and to watch it get torn apart by overseas offers is just ludicrous to me. since when do they have this surplus of money to buy our players away??

then again, if a player like childress is all about the money, then maybe it's not such a bad thing to let him go...

I betcha the European fans have felt this way for a long long time.  Arvydas Sabonis seems to be the rare case of a Euro not coming over when given the opportunity.  As many a publicist has stated, the world is catching up with America, and if they have the money, they'll take our players.  If I'm Josh Childress I make this decision 100 times out of 100 - young guys need money, and it shows that the league is weakening
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Offline Finkelskyhook

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I doubt that Stern sees much of a problem here.  Hell, he's the one responsible for it.  By playing all of these exhibitions overseas, he's essentially promoting both the import and export that is occurring.

But I think its beyond a "surplus of money".  A 2-3 like Childress is at-best a mid-level player in the NBA.  If he hasn't broken through to get star calls by now, he'll probably always be just that.  I know of no money he makes outside of the NBA...He probably does but it probably wasn't much.  He'll be an instant all star in Europe and benefit from a lot outside of basketball.  

I don't think you underrate the corrupt officiating in all of this.  A solid player like Childress has a lot better chance of being a prominent player overseas where the officiating isn't so corrupt and star-driven.  If Stern doesn't get the officiating under control, the NBA will become a sieve as the league loses more and more credibility and fans and doesn't have the revenue to compete with other leagues for a Childress-type player.

The Messiah, or any other current superstar isn't going anywhere, screwedup. They can make way too much money outside of the NBA.  But only if they're an NBA player.  He makes probably 10% of that in Europe.  They'd have to offer the Messiah a billion dollars to play there.  The Messiah will not play on anything other than the biggest national stage....(Knicks) His ego is too big.

This option is for prominent NBA role players, aging superstars  down to fringe players.  But you won't see any prominent superstars do this.  They won't benefit by doing it.




Re: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2008, 06:08:56 PM »

Offline screwedupmaniac

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yeah...maybe this is why david stern wants to expand the league to being a worldwide thing. i understand it'd be tough to not take the money they are offering, but why don't they offer it to their own talents, guys like manu ginobli, tony parker, vujacich, pau gasol, yao ming, etc. etc. etc? seriously...i don't think Lebron would go overseas, but if they stole him from the NBA, how aggravating would that be? its not like the NBA isn't watched internationally, there are tons of overseas fans who love the NBA.

Re: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread
« Reply #4 on: August 02, 2008, 06:10:51 PM »

Online JSD

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40 million will not get it done. Lebron's NBA salary is one thing, advertising money is another. He will not get the exposure he needs in Europe to rake in like New York
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Re: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread
« Reply #5 on: August 02, 2008, 06:14:32 PM »

Offline EJPLAYA

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Go ahead and offer me 3-4 times what I am making overseas compounded by our weak dollar and see how fast I head overseas, family and all. This is America guys! They are free to follow their hearts desire, and if that is the almighty "Euro" then more power to them. These are tier 2-3 players going, so unless we see someone like a Lebron James going over there I wouldn't worry too much. If you aren't good enough to make the bucks in the NBA and want to play at a lower level for more money then go ahead. We won't miss you.

Offline screwedupmaniac

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I doubt that Stern sees much of a problem here.  Hell, he's the one responsible for it.  By playing all of these exhibitions overseas, he's essentially promoting both the import and export that is occurring.

But I think its beyond a "surplus of money".  A 2-3 like Childress is at-best a mid-level player in the NBA.  If he hasn't broken through to get star calls by now, he'll probably always be just that.  I know of no money he makes outside of the NBA...He probably does but it probably wasn't much.  He'll be an instant all star in Europe and benefit from a lot outside of basketball.  

I don't think you underrate the corrupt officiating in all of this.  A solid player like Childress has a lot better chance of being a prominent player overseas where the officiating isn't so corrupt and star-driven.  If Stern doesn't get the officiating under control, the NBA will become a sieve as the league loses more and more credibility and fans and doesn't have the revenue to compete with other leagues for a Childress-type player.

The Messiah, or any other current superstar isn't going anywhere, screwedup. They can make way too much money outside of the NBA.  But only if they're an NBA player.  He makes probably 10% of that in Europe.  They'd have to offer the Messiah a billion dollars to play there.  The Messiah will not play on anything other than the biggest national stage....(Knicks) His ego is too big.

This option is for prominent NBA role players, aging superstars  down to fringe players.  But you won't see any prominent superstars do this.  They won't benefit by doing it.





i sure hope you're right, there's a lot of lebron fans over seas too...marketing wouldn't suffer to bad when all of europe is watching. but i agree, i don't see how he'd ever leave...

BUT, i think he goes to the brooklyn nets if he goes anywhere  :o

Re: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread
« Reply #7 on: August 02, 2008, 06:19:39 PM »

Offline screwedupmaniac

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Go ahead and offer me 3-4 times what I am making overseas compounded by our weak dollar and see how fast I head overseas, family and all. This is America guys! They are free to follow their hearts desire, and if that is the almighty "Euro" then more power to them. These are tier 2-3 players going, so unless we see someone like a Lebron James going over there I wouldn't worry too much. If you aren't good enough to make the bucks in the NBA and want to play at a lower level for more money then go ahead. We won't miss you.

yeah, a guy like childress is a superstar over there, this is true.

AND, we still stole talents such as manu.

but, it just seems like europe is getting more balls when it comes to talking to our players. and it's not like they are within the NBA, so they can tamper with our players whenever they want and no one can say boo about it. i'm just tired of reading about a player a day getting taken overseas when he could do well here too. childress didn't even seem to look into his options, it happened so quickly. you're right though, if they don't have the heart and passion to do something bigger than make a lil more money, then they can leave. but if they wanna make history and go down in the NBA as a great player (see lebron), then they won't go anywhere anyways...

Re: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread
« Reply #8 on: August 02, 2008, 06:28:58 PM »

Offline Finkelskyhook

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Go ahead and offer me 3-4 times what I am making overseas compounded by our weak dollar and see how fast I head overseas, family and all. This is America guys! They are free to follow their hearts desire, and if that is the almighty "Euro" then more power to them. These are tier 2-3 players going, so unless we see someone like a Lebron James going over there I wouldn't worry too much. If you aren't good enough to make the bucks in the NBA and want to play at a lower level for more money then go ahead. We won't miss you.

yeah, a guy like childress is a superstar over there, this is true.

AND, we still stole talents such as manu.

but, it just seems like europe is getting more balls when it comes to talking to our players. and it's not like they are within the NBA, so they can tamper with our players whenever they want and no one can say boo about it. i'm just tired of reading about a player a day getting taken overseas when he could do well here too. childress didn't even seem to look into his options, it happened so quickly. you're right though, if they don't have the heart and passion to do something bigger than make a lil more money, then they can leave. but if they wanna make history and go down in the NBA as a great player (see lebron), then they won't go anywhere anyways...

The thing about that is, screwedup, Stern wields the big stick in this scenario.  If these tinhorn leagues start tampering in a threatening manner....They'll be put in their place.   Like I said earlier, I think Stern is very comfortable with the situation as it is now.

Re: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread
« Reply #9 on: August 02, 2008, 06:42:17 PM »

Offline CoachCowens

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I've been waiting for someone else to start this, and maybe i'm alone on this one. but i am sick and tired of watching our home grown American players get stolen from the NBA because Europe is willing to pay them more. It's getting to the point that NBA players are going to have to start signing contracts both with the team they play with, AND an agreement with the NBA that they won't jump ship. i understand if you aren't good enough for the NBA, but to sign overseas all for the money is just rediculous. the chinese and euro players we get aren't simply all about the money...it's about chasing a dream to play in the National Basketball Association, the greatest basketball organization on earth. i watched a young and promising Josh Childress leave the NBA and the Hawks, and sign with Olympikaos and didn't say anything. But when reports that Olympikaos is willing to throw 40 million dollars at LeBron James, the face of the NBA and the best thing to happen since MJ, I can't take it anymore. I'm obsessed with the C's, but I love the league as a whole as well, and to watch it get torn apart by overseas offers is just ludicrous to me. since when do they have this surplus of money to buy our players away??

then again, if a player like childress is all about the money, then maybe it's not such a bad thing to let him go...

What home grown talent besides Childress has signed over there?

Re: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread
« Reply #10 on: August 02, 2008, 08:12:44 PM »

Online Neurotic Guy

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I think the bigger issue here is that the world -- not just the NBA -- is changing in ways we can't necessarily predict as we are in the midst of an unprecendented phase of human existence.  When I was in college, the only way to call home was to call collect on the single pay-phone in the dorm.  We used actual typewriters, had no e-mail, no internet, no computers, no cell phones, cordless phones, or even pushbutton dials, no CDs, no VCRs, no DVDs, no cable tv -- heck, we had one TV in the whole dorm -- and it got 3 stations.  And this -- sorry to say -- was not 'the olden days' -- only 30 years ago.   I still consider myself a young person.

I bring this up only because no one would have predicted the changes in the world over the last 100 years (never mind just the last 20), and global communications and travel are so differnt now  -- we are headed into an era that has the potential to blur the lines of cultural and territorial boundaries that have existed for centuries (hopefully this will eventually mean greater peace than is currently the case).  The NBA began in the USA, but basketball is a global sport now and with wealth spread across the planet and communications and travel so easy, Americans choosing life in Europe, South America, Asia, etc, does not seem nearly as far-fetched or radical as it seemed not so long ago.

Frankly, I am excited to see what becomes of the world (if not a bit anxious as well), and the NBA is only a tiny piece of the big picture.   America is a great country with great people, but we are also part of a bigger community now and can choose to share ourselves with the world or try to hold desperately onto what we believe is 'ours'.  With caution, I think the world will contiue to get smaller as the saying goes and I think this is possibly a good thing for mankind in the long run. Sorry to make a bigger issue out of this, but I do think that the phenomenon of NBA calibur players going world-wide is an inevitable and positive move and is reflective of an evolution of sorts stemming largely from  the skyrocketing growth in communications and travel technolgical in the world in which we all live.  Josh Childress could be viewed as a pioneer or traitor (I say with marked overstatement) -- I prefer to see him as the former.

Re: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread
« Reply #11 on: August 02, 2008, 08:24:34 PM »

Offline Shots

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Steal? It's a free market.

I fully understand American players travelling overseas, as it's an new and exciting possibility for them. There's no doubt about NBA being a much more attractive league, solely based on entertainment and media coverage, but the Euroleague ain't that bad - It's different and more about teamplay than individuality and glamour (Not saying it's a contrast to NBA). A fringe-starter like Josh Childress can travel overseas and become the absolute go-to-guy, earn loads of money and try a new way of life. I really, really doubt it's all about the money.


Re: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread
« Reply #12 on: August 02, 2008, 11:00:22 PM »

Offline bdm860

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screwedupmaniac I definitely think you're overreacting and being very hypocritical.  What US player besides Childress has gone overseas for more money?  Childress isn't even that good, he couldn't even start for an under .500 team, really not anything to get worked up about.  And LeBron ain't going anywhere.  And why is it ok for the NBA to steal other countries top talents for years, but not the other way around?  I don't get it.

Actually this is probably the best thing that could happen to the NBA, and good for the world too as Neurotic Guy was saying.  The NCAA and NBA have had a basketball monopoly for years, and the game has suffered for it in my opinion.  All I know is I want to continually see the best basketball in the world and the NBA has many flaws that continue to go unfixed.  Without any competition to challenge it, the NBA has no need to fix it flaws because there is no alternative, for the customers or for the employees.  Monopolies cause companies to become stagnant, but competition results in the best product available.  It forces each company to be innovative and come up with the best product, best policies, and  deliver the best customer and the best employee experiences possible.  If the ABA never came along and tried to challenge the NBA we probably still wouldn't have a 3 point line.  This is good for the game.

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Re: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread
« Reply #13 on: August 02, 2008, 11:02:13 PM »

Offline Dybdal

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I have to say that this thread actualy angers me slightly, being from europe and being a proud member of this blog, i cannot understand why this kind of european bashing is allowed on here.

I understand its an importent topic, but whats been said by a certain person has in my opinon gone beyond that to allmost racial hatred (i know europe is not a race, but i cant find a more fitting word) or the thread being political.

That on one hand you are allright with europen/asian/south american players comming to the NBA but not allright with american players moving to other leagues i find.. perplexing to say the least.
And that you justify it by saying the players moving to the NBA are doing so because they chase a dream and the ones moving away are doing it for the money is also very odd way of taking a stab at people playing in europe for being somehow less worth as human beings.

That you continue this trend by implying that the european teams are only allowed to aim at certain non american players, i again find to be such an extrme case of double moraility that its allmost sickening to read.

I personaly dont find any problem with Josh going to the euroleague, i dont watch the league, never have and even if lebron should go to the euroleague i never will. But i find it funny that your allmost describing a seperation to an "all american" vs "all european" league by implying the euroleague should not be allowed to spend money on anyone else but people from outside the US, it seems like ive taken a time machine back to the 1920/1930's and watched one of the all black baseball leagues.. whats being hated on might have changed but i thought we as human beings were past such non sensible things, as hating just for the sake of hating something.

./end rant

edit: my point is, that i dont have a problem with feeling sad about seeing a guy like josh leave a league your watching, what i do have a problem with, is the fact the OP is ignoring the fact the problem isnt the euroleague, its how the NBA is run.. and continues to do small stabs at everything living outside the US boarders. In my mind its hate, at the very core of it and should not have any place on this blog or modern society
« Last Edit: August 02, 2008, 11:13:38 PM by Dybdal »
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Re: The "Tired of Watching Teams Overseas Steal Our Players" Thread
« Reply #14 on: August 03, 2008, 12:07:02 AM »

Offline juice104

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screwedupmaniac

Can u tell me one play besides an overrated Josh Childress that has went to play overseas. You say you are tired of hearing players going to play overseas everyday, but only one has went and he was a bench player. Now there have been rumors about a few players considering going but none of them have went. Also a few players like Delonte West have said they got offers but that turned out to be agents making those rumors up so their player could get more money from the Cavs. So before people start getting worked about rumors of players leaving read the whole articles so you no the truth that players are using Europe as leverage to get more money in the NBA. If Europe wants to overpay bench players then let them go but trust me our super stars are not going anywhere. This is actually good for the NBA that these rumors are going to make the NBA change the collective bargaining agreement so they can hopefully get rid of restricted free agency.