Guerschon Yabusele, who made his NBA debut with Boston on Monday (15 minutes of play) in a preseason win over Charlotte (94-82), is still waiting to score his first official points in the big league. But he's not quite done with the Pro A yet.
The Celtics player (2.03 m, 21 years), drafted in 16th position in 2016 by the franchise of Massachusetts, is currently at the center of a legal imbroglio around the compensation usually received by French clubs when one of their players leaves for the NBA. The famous "buy-out", whose maximum amount is set by the U.S. league at 675,000 dollars (576,000 euros). Except that Rouen, his last club in Pro A (2015-2016), and the Chorale de Roanne, where he was trained, have not yet received a cent.
His season in China at the heart of the problem
At the center of the problem, the transition season spent by the native of Dreux (Eure-et-Loir) in China, Shanghai Sharks. And the question of who, from China or the Celtics, should pay the half million euros?
Before joining the CBA Championship, the French Federation (FFBB) had issued a letter of release (legally required) to Yabusele to allow him to play in China. Was this document from the FFBB valid as a contractual release of the player towards Rouen?
This is the crux of the problem. The SPO Rouen, which has seized the International Federation (FIBA) to intervene in his favor and hired a lawyer to assert its rights, claims the existence of a amendment to the contract binding Yabusele to the club, which ran until 2018, and did not originally include a release clause to China. The amendment allowed the player to leave the Pro A as a free loan to Shanghai, while remaining "property" of the SPO at the end of said loan. This allowed, in theory, to assure the club that at his official signing with Boston, a buy-out would be paid.
At this time Boston refuses to pay
Except that at this time, Boston refuses to pay, justifying to be in possession of a letter of exit of the Chinese Federation freeing the player of any contractual link with a basketball club, and perhaps not having knowledge of the famous rider. Rouen considers that, legally, Guerschon Yabusele is still part of the SPO, and has initiated a legal procedure to obtain the breach of his contract and... to recover the severance pay. An operation that could take a year before succeeding.
According to our information, the Shanghai Sharks in a first step, the Boston Celtics in a second, have both made substantial proposals for compensation to close the case. Both were refused. If Rouen wins the case, it remains to be seen if the player will pay his buy-out himself, or if the Boston Celtics will contribute to all or part of the sum.
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