Olympiakos Could Make Run At LeBron

[glennathan]

There was one phrase in the report that made no sense to me but maybe someone could clear it up for me.

Here is the article http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... at_lebron/

Here is the paragraph that did not make sense to me.

"The owners of Olympiakos already lose millions annually on their player payroll. It may be worthwhile to them to lose $40 million or more in exchange for the grandeur of LeBron"

Now I understand that LeBron is just insanelly good but if you are gaining no profits and losing millions annually why cause your team to lose even more money? That is kinda like the magic trying to sign D-Wade to a contract while adding LeBron and Chris Bosh all at the same time as us having Rashard on the books. Can someone come with a reasonable explnation why a team would do this?

[ClashCityRocker]

Easy. The revenue and exposure brought in from having LeBron would offset all the losses they've endured from not having a LeBron. Could you imagine how many Olympiakos jerseys you'd see around? Staggering.

It would be a risk for the club, but I seriously doubt the team would pay the entire salary on their own. I'm sure they'd find a lot of help ponying up the dough and I don't think they have a salary cap. Can anyone clarify that?

[MagicHolland]

As far as I know there's no limitations in salaries in Europe, so that might be a bad thing for the NBA. I wonder if the NBA has to up his Salary cap big time next year. To compensate for the big money they throw at the NBA players. If more players like Childress are going overseas, it's going to cost the quality of the NBA..

Oh and Lebron won't go there..

[drsd]

Russian oligarchs are heavily investing salaries for the Russian league. At some point, one will make a hue run at an NBA super-star.

[Bucs80]

The Only way I see him going over there if the offer him around half a billion dollar or more.And that would really destroy their salary cap.

[ClashCityRocker]

I wouldn't be so sure.
A.) He wants to be a billionaire
B.) He loves the spotlight and with the growing influemce of basketball in a global market Europe could eventually become a bigger stage. I know it sounds crazy, but there's no telling what could happen (especially with USA's current economy woes).

All I'm sayin is when you have a man with LeBron's aspirations and ability, there's no telling what could happen.

[ClashCityRocker]

I don't really know a delicate way of saying this but are the states so great that it would take half a billion to suffer the torture of being in Europe with crazy european parties and beautiful locales? Have you guys seen some of these places?? Did I mention europeans know how to party?? Home of the late great Falco??

If anybody knows who that is anyway?

[DrunkOnMystery]

The thing that impresses me most about the article that's been the basis for all this speculation is the jump from 20m over 3 years to 50m per year. Somehow, the people on this board(and the general board) actually read someone say: "What if they offer a contract that is more than 8 TIMES bigger than the largest contract they've ever given an American player?" and people actually took it seriously. Amazing.

[MoMM]

Teams in Europe pay 30mi/40mi just to buyout some player to come to his team and after that they have to pay the sallary, so i dont see any problem for them in paying 40mi a year in sallary for one player.

[KoolMikeSkii]

This will definitely make the NBA have to look at its cap situation. You can claim to be the best basketball league in the world and have other leagues pay players more. The NBA owners make a **** load of money but keep the salaries down with the cap. When the NBA loses some of its stars it will hurt the game and their pockets. They will need to raise the cap to compete with Europe next time the contracts up. Anyone know when that is?

[The Favero]

"The owners of Olympiakos already lose millions annually on their player payroll. It may be worthwhile to them to lose $40 million or more in exchange for the grandeur of LeBron"

Now I understand that LeBron is just insanelly good but if you are gaining no profits and losing millions annually why cause your team to lose even more money? That is kinda like the magic trying to sign D-Wade to a contract while adding LeBron and Chris Bosh all at the same time as us having Rashard on the books. Can someone come with a reasonable explnation why a team would do this?

If you read the SI article you would have read this:

he Aggelopoulos brothers, the young billionaires who own Olympiakos, do not expect to earn revenues to cover the cost of that contract. They signed Childress simply in hope that he will help them win basketball games.

At the most expensive levels of European basketball, the club owners are obsessed with bringing glory to their club and their fans as well as to their city and country. Imagine the glory that the recruitment of James would bring to Olympiakos. At the very least, he would destroy their cross-town rival Panathinaikos: The value of that alone would be priceless to Olympiakos.

It's Europe man, winning brings pride to your team and there is a TON more team pride in Europe whether it be soccer or basketball.

Here check out this video of Panathinaikos, playing Fran's team Barcelona, and listen to the crowd. When the ball is dead they are louder than an good NBA crowd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xBpWg538rs

[MoMM]

Exactly, they simple dont care about money, all they want is to win.

They dont own a team to win earn money, but for hobby, they earn money in their business! Sports are just a way to spend their money for something they are addicted and winning will make them remembered forever in the heart of their fans.

Look at the size of the flag and the fans going crazy here in Brazil.
http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdd3AagvWrM

[UCFJayBird]

i didn't think it would happen when I read the headline, but if they offer him twice what he'd get here, he might do it. You never know.

[craig01]

Anything is possible, but I just don't understand the fiscal balance of the Euro teams.

Their gross revenue can't be that high, can it?

[mhectorgato]

I don't really know a delicate way of saying this but are the states so great that it would take half a billion to suffer the torture of being in Europe with crazy european parties and beautiful locales? Have you guys seen some of these places?? Did I mention europeans know how to party?? Home of the late great Falco??

If anybody knows who that is anyway?

The only Falco I know is from "Rock Me Amedeus"


BTW - Didn't someone already bring up the possibility of a LBJ or Wade going to Europe? Oh yeah ...

[magicfanatic23]

You never know. Lebron seems like the guy who would seriously consider this. He wants to be a "global icon" and he also says he wants to be the 1st billionaire athlete even though Tiger Woods is almost there. It would have to be a deal for at least 50 million a year for him to consider it but it would not surprise me. Just like Michael Jordan left the NBA for baseball for a little while, Lebron could go over there for a year or 2 and become the global icon he says he wants to be and come back with about 5 times the money he could have made here. And don't forget the impact in marketing he would have over there with Nike. I am not saying it is going to happen but it isn't as crazy as it used to sound. 6 months ago I would have laughed at anyone considering this.

These owners must be like the George Steinbrenner's of European basketball b/c they sound like they are willing to pay anything to win and this sure would do just that.

Still, the most likely thing is Lebron in Brooklyn playing for the Nets in 2010.

[Optimus_Steel]

Olympiacos could make a run at the Dienermyte!


Ok i made that up but hey it could happen. Could be a shift of power.

[aleZ]

It's Europe man, winning brings pride to your team and there is a TON more team pride in Europe whether it be soccer or basketball.

So true, plus european teams can lure in new fans with special programs and "great" offers like subscriptions, with big-name players coming from the US. Fans (especially city/country residents) will bite and pay anything to see a great player "defend" their colors.

For another soccer example, AC Milan just tripled its season ticket holders with Ronaldinho's sign.

Not that Lebron will ever go there, mind

[lovehoops01]

I would be shocked if that happened.

What is the most per year ever paid a soccer player in Europe? Would they pay more -- or as much -- for a basketball player than a soccer player?

Plus, for LeBron, the majority of his money -- like with MJ and Tiger -- doesn't come from his salary from playing the game. It comes from endorsement deals. When Tiger goes to play in the Dubai Open, do you hear about it like you do when he plays the U.S. Open or the Masters? No. The exposure he gets from being in the key U.S. events is much bigger. If that is what is most important to him, you don't think the big stage of New York is big enough worldwide to make him bigger than if he played in Greece -- or most other city worldwide? If he played in Europe full time, he would be big in Europe, but not in the States. Like the top soccer players. If you're not a huge soccer fan here, you don't know very much about those guys. You might know their names, but that's about it unless you're a big soccer fan. Plus, if he stays healthy, he can become a billionaire in the United States, too.

Now, if the U.S. economy continues to plummet and none of our companies could afford to give him endorsement deals anymore, I suppose it's possible. But if that happens, there is going to be more to worry about for the NBA than whether LeBron ends up in Europe. Plus, you've got to think that Europe and the rest of the world might start to feel some pain financially, too, if the U.S. economy got that bad.

[aleZ]

What is the most per year ever paid a soccer player in Europe? Would they pay more -- or as much -- for a basketball player than a soccer player?

Given the exchange rate, around Shard's contract and no, I don't think any club can spend that much on a single player, but you gotta factor in rising economies like Russia or Spain and the Euro domination on the Dollar

Plus, you've got to think that Europe and the rest of the world might start to feel some pain financially, too, if the U.S. economy got that bad.

That problem should be solved in the upcoming years, with Europe becoming less and less dependent on the US, otherwise we (europeans) are gonna have much bigger problems than LeBron's contract.