Will A High Schooler Ever Choose Euro Basketball Over NCAA?

[summary]

just moving to europe and leaving your friends/family behind isnt exactly a good move for an 18 year old kid for the most part.

I think this idea that an 18 year old wouldn't be able to handle culture differences or living in a foreign country on their own pretty funny. There are thousands of kids every year who study abroad through university programs. There are just as many who apply to schools overseas in place like Sweden, France, Germany, England, and Spain. I mean there are highschool programs that send kids overseas for a year. Is there some kind of assumption that basketball players are automatically more immature than other kids their age?

[Lakers_4_Life]

HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS CAN NOT SIGN DIRECTLY TO A NBDL TEAM!

Also American players with scoring ability always do well in Europe. Historically American players have been signed to be a teams leading scorer and best athlete.

Lynn Greer averaged 27 points per game his first year in Europe after 4 years of college. He is a 6'00 guard from Temple University. I see no reason why a top notch NBA prospect couldn't produce in Europe. The USA basketball teams have proven that American team basketball doesn't translate well internationally, but individually American players can have their way with the poor defensive abilities of European players.

I believe that Beasley could easily average atleast 20 points in Europe in any of those leagues. Their 3 point line is shortened which is a plus.

You have obviously never watched a Euroleague game.

[Lakers_4_Life]

Kosta Koufos thought about signing with a Euro team out of high school, and he could even leave Ohio State for a Euro team this year, although that's a real long shot behind either going pro or staying at OSU.

I don't see a black athlete going to Europe, but if there are Euro kids like Kosta (although Kosta's not really Euro since he was born here to American parents, but he played for the Greece U19 team), I could see a guy like that leaving for Euro for a year or two potentially. Maybe even stay in Europe until he becomes eligible for free agency in the NBA, because you can get a Euro contract that pays much better than a rookie scale contract considering the strength of the Euro and no income tax.

Yep, Panathinaikos BC offered him a big contract. They wanted to sit him on their bench and develop him. I think that's out for him now because they are going hard after Nikola Peckovic now.

[Lakers_4_Life]

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there are almost 100 college basketball teams that pull in higher attendance figures than the euroleague average right now, so I'd say euroleague has a ways to go to rival the NBA in spending power.

Not true

Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are billion dollar clubs due to the soccer revenue. They choose to have a certain budget for their basketball club. but if they wanted to they could EASILY have NBA type spending.

Now on the other side of that clubs that CHOOSE to spend a lot.

1. CSKA Moscow - this is the Russian army's team. Considering they have the purse of the Russian government behind them, they have way more ability to spend than most Americans realize.

They offered Kirilenko something like equal to $40 million US TAX FREE plus all expenses paid. Do the math on that one.

2. Olympiacos Piraeus - this team is THE known over spender in Europe. I mean they will pay HUGE amounts for even marginal players at times. They offered Jasekivicius something like 6.5 million a year US TAX FREE plus all expenses paid, plus a fancy boat, a sports car, a Mediterranean villa, ALL of it tax free.

They offered Chris Webber $8-$10 million a year if you took into account the Euro to dollar rate, the tax free, the bonus items, etc.

They offered Charlie Bell a ridiculous amount of money. Hell Lynn Greer got more than the MLE. If you figured in exchange rate, tax free status, all the bonus items, Lynn Greer got considerably more than the MLE from them.

3. Panathinaikos - if there is such a thing as the New York Yankees of European basketball this is the team. It's unreal what they will spend. The President of Euroleague admitted their team budget for this season is over 30 MILLION EUROS.

Think about that for a second.

With the exchange rate, that's about $47 million dollars US and the dollar dropping by the day against the Euro. it just keeps getting a bigger and bigger disparity. NBA clubs get poorer, Euro ones richer day by day as the US economy continues to go into the toilet.

Now ponder that $47 million + budget of Panathinaikos and realize that the player salaries are TAX FREE.

The US tax rate for the MLE (average NBA salary) is about 34%. The tax rate in Greece (Panathinaikos is from Athens) is about 40% for Greek athletes.

So, Panathinaikos pays $47 million US PLUS all the taxes on those salaries, and the tax rate is HIGHER than the US is. In other words, that $47 million is equal to $71.5 million US when you add in the taxes.

The luxury tax is $67, 865,000. How many NBA team even pay the tax?

Panathinaikos can pay WELL OVER the NBA tax. Do the math:

$30 million plus Euros = $47 million plus US

$71.5 million TAX FREE = $71.5 million times .66% (US tax rate is .34 so 1.00 - .34 = .66) = about $47.19 million. And keep in mind that Panathinaikos actually covers 40% taxes now not 34% so they figure can go higher.

You have a club that could EASILY buy ANY NBA player it wanted to, IF the team and the player wanted it.

[Lakers_4_Life]

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Born in America to American parents. Lived in Ohio his entire life. You can't get more American than that. And if KK can get an offer, certainly there would be interest in players better than him. He only received that offer because they thought he might show interest. If an American HSer showed interest, he could get a contract.

I hate to say it but this is typical American BS. it's one of the reasons why Europeans are so sick of how generally most Americans act. People still call Nikos Galis American.

What people in American fail to grasp is that in a lot of European cultures you are considered part of that COUNTRY by HERITAGE, NOT where you are born.

You know Americans are born on military based all around the world and get to be considered Americans. Americans are born all around the world to American parents and get to be called Americans.

BUT per American POV if a Greek is born in America, he somehow is no longer Greek but American. In fact he can't even be considered both.......

Not only that, but Greece considers you a GREEK AUTOMATICALLY. If you are a Greek, you could be born in Timbuktu for all the country cares it does not matter you are a GREEK CITIZEN PERIOD.

Just because America likes to control their people by trying to set all these rules on their status does not mean other countries apply it. Koufos by Greek law is a Greek citizen the moment he is born. In fact eligible for all government services in GREECE.

Same was true for Nikos Galis. Yet Americans cannot even allow these people to be called Greeks because they were born in America. So how come all Americans born on all those military bases around the world get to be called "Americans" then? It's just typical Ugly American nonsense.

[Dtown84]

If Stern does succeed in raising the age minimum, I could see players leaving, but certainly not in droves. While the money is without a question better, the NCAA still has the prestige factor working for it in the states, and instant name recognition as well.

At the true basketball schools you also can become a god on campus, throw in a glamorized college life and it's hard to turn down (just check out some of Beasley's statements, or the crew from Florida coming back for a second year)

It'll be an interesting day when guys like Coack K, have to compete with recruiters from the euroleague.

[SendEm]

If Stern does succeed in raising the age minimum, I could see players leaving, but certainly not in droves. While the money is without a question better, the NCAA still has the prestige factor working for it in the states, and instant name recognition as well.

At the true basketball schools you also can become a god on campus, throw in a glamorized college life and it's hard to turn down (just check out some of Beasley's statements, or the crew from Florida coming back for a second year)

It'll be an interesting day when guys like Coack K, have to compete with recruiters from the euroleague.

You don't realize just how many College players are poor. You may see these big name college players in their uniform but when they aren't playing the game they are struggling financially and so are their family members. You add to that the fact that these players can't earn but so much money working a job while on college scholarship and you have an EASY decision to make when a Euro club offers them millions for a few seasons.

[Dtown84]

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You don't realize just how many College players are poor. You may see these big name college players in their uniform but when they aren't playing the game they are struggling financially and so are their family members. You add to that the fact that these players can't earn but so much money working a job while on college scholarship and you have an EASY decision to make when a Euro club offers them millions for a few seasons.

You make it sound like they're completely destitute desperate for money, cases like this are generally the rarity. A good number of elite players come from Middle, or lower middle class homes. Even if they're poor, for the elite players it's only a matter of waiting a year (two if Stern has his way), before they receive an NBA paycheck plus endorsements (if they're elite of course). Guys like Lebron, Kobe, and Garnett didn't leave for the pros cause they needed the cash, they left cause they could, and they knew they would be drafted well.

I'm not saying no one's going to go, of course some will, but there's a difference of some leaving and it being the new trend of people going. For those struggling severely, yes it is an easy decision. But I'd like some numbers on the number of players that are actually in this state.

[mr.ankle]

Are most Europeans Racist . Why would a black male want to play there ?

Look at this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwpO-nnFY9g

[cloudXXI]

Are most Europeans Racist . Why would a black male want to play there ?

Yes. In fact, only 50 years ago we have restaurants for black people and restaurants for white people. No, wait. That was in U.S.A.

[Dtown84]

Are most Europeans Racist . Why would a black male want to play there ?

Yes. In fact, only 50 years ago we have restaurants for black people and restaurants for white people. No, wait. That was in U.S.A.

To be fair, I've never seen a sporting event where people tossed bananas at an african american player while making monkey sounds. While it's happened a few times in soccer in eastern europe this decade. Not all of Europe is racist of course, but it's a bigger problem there, than in the US at least in sports.

Edit for link

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... Dec12.html

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Interesting...

[DaDragicShow]

I'm going to take a wild guess and say Bradon Jennings a great high school player will be the first one to play in euro.

[Dtown84]

Sticking to my predictions on this page.

[NO-KG-AI]

Hopefully this makes Stern toss out the stupid age limit.

[jman3134]

I don't even know how I feel about the age limit. There are the Lebron's, Durant's, Beasley's who are exceptions to every rule. But, then there are guys who could potentially not have achieved as much had they come directly from high school- see Mike Conley Jr. etc. Plus, this is a business and a year of college should at least give them a fair representation of whether or not a high school talent could potentially succeed or possesses serious flaws. It also may help a player's stock- see Andray Blatche, Ellis, and Louis Williams who were all wrongfully taken in the second round. They improved their games and attempted to live up to the hype- sure- but they may have been selected in the first round after a year of college. If a player is really desparate for quick dollars, he may be able to go to the D League.

Still, it is questionable whether or not this is fair to the players.

I believe that everyone is going to see for themselves that the NCAA is a little bit more justified after Jennings goes to Europe. His numbers probably will not be gaudy and he will have to adjust to life overseas- which is a severely underrated factor. He is living and playing in a totally different world where younger prospects are oftentimes not given PT because of a lack of familiarity with a system. Jennings is a prime candidate for this despite his ridiculous talent. I see this little experiment as being a failure. It is going to make critics of the age limit reevaluate what they have thought because European teams gauge their investments before putting them into contests directly. At least the NCAA offers a viable means for playing time. Just as the European teams may not play younger players from the get go, NBA teams are looking for some sort of protection where they can evaluate a younger player whom they are going to potentially invest millions of dollars in. The age limit is simply their way of doing this.

[dflash3]

And to think Stern wanted to make it mandatory for athletes to have to attend college for two years before becoming eligible for the draft. If Stern is smart he will get rid of the rule if he wants to prevent even more players for choosing Europe over the NBA.