Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 11:30 am  |  34 responses

David Stern Is Unafraid of the Euros Stealing His Best Players

by Marcel Mutoni

For a little while this past summer, it looked as though the floodgates might open up, and the possibility of NBA stars heading off to the Euro-lined courts of, well, Europe seemed like an ever-growing concern for the League.

The NBA lost a few talented players to European squads, but David Stern doesn’t foresee too many of his top dogs saying goodbye to the Association. The issue, according to the commish, boils down to simple economics.

From the AP:

“I guess if they want to induce NBA players at salaries that exceed the budget of the team to play in games that 1,000 to 5,000 people will go to, they’re free to do that and there will be one or two players that will benefit greatly from it,” said Stern.

But Stern said average attendance in Europe was only 6,000, so “the system will not support it. It’s important that we study the global world of basketball,” he added. “The economic model does not exist that would support such contract, and we don’t mind the competition. It’s probably good for our players.”

In other words: Bring it on, Europe. Lure the top guys at your own peril…Or something.

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  • mat smith Posted: Oct.24 at 11:32 am
    heh, like players give a crap about attendances if they are getting 30 mil a year, stupid Stern

  • BETCATS Posted: Oct.24 at 11:40 am
    NBA>Europe. If players really want to go to europe, they should go.

  • Gumdrop Posted: Oct.24 at 11:47 am
    People need to stop panicking about this.

  • TADOne Posted: Oct.24 at 11:51 am
    Italics rule.

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Oct.24 at 12:03 pm
    Why don’t you just take the whole NBA to China, Dave? They have a better “economic model” than the USA, after all. Or at least more money.

  • KA Posted: Oct.24 at 12:12 pm
    david stern aint scared o yall euro markets.

  • WhaHuh Posted: Oct.24 at 12:17 pm
    Thats why he loves london so much- the only country in western europe without a decent eurobasket team :(

  • Krishan Posted: Oct.24 at 12:26 pm
    rofl why is everything in italics?

  • peteb80 Posted: Oct.24 at 12:37 pm
    Since you Americans focked up the world economy the euro has rapidly weakened against the dollar, so that Europe is suddenly looking about 15% less interesting than it was a month ago.

  • Eboy Posted: Oct.24 at 12:46 pm
    ^Haha!!!! :)

  • Brina22 Posted: Oct.24 at 12:52 pm
    @mat smith…it’s not about the players playing in front of the crowd, it’s those PAYING fans that would help pay the big contracts. at least that’s how i read it. but even attendance doesn’t really matter…european teams are mostly financed by sponsorship and even governement subsidies.

  • jj Posted: Oct.24 at 12:59 pm
    who would care about the fans if they get $50mil? stern should think about it

  • peteb80 Posted: Oct.24 at 1:02 pm
    After looking at the numbers the contract Josh Childress signed has actually lost 24% in dollar value in the last three months if he’s getting paid in euros. That turns the “20 million $ after taxes” which are mentioned in the article into 15,2 million $. Sucks for him.

  • Jukai Posted: Oct.24 at 1:03 pm
    Maybe Bush did it on purpose so Lebron stays in the states!!!

  • Kieran Posted: Oct.24 at 1:16 pm
    Im sure Nikos et al in Europe dont want any NBA players cos they already have the “best”
    *sigh*

  • tealish Posted: Oct.24 at 1:44 pm
    Honestly, the NBA will always be the NBA. They have nothing to worry about. The true greats won’t leave – they want to play against the best. You might get the quasi-stars leaving for the $ and the chance to be the man, but who cares. They can have our Josh Childresses. The NBA really has nothing to worry about.

  • what Posted: Oct.24 at 3:07 pm
    Is everything in Italics because NBA players are gonna go to Italy?

  • wiz Posted: Oct.24 at 3:10 pm
    let stephen jackson not get the contract he wants i bet he would go for the right price

  • Jeronimo Posted: Oct.24 at 5:01 pm
    ROFL @ What’s comment

  • dunkbar Posted: Oct.24 at 5:29 pm
    i live in berlin, germany, and our team alba berlin (that’s where bobby brown played last year before he signed with the kings) is back in the euroleague this year. within the last 2 weeks, i had the choice to go either to the nba preseason game between the hornets and the wizards, pay around 100$ for a ticket (preseason!) and watch a lackluster attempt of basketball (the opening quarter ended 36-9) or the first alba berlin euroleague game against rome and beat brandon jennings and primoz brezec in a fantastic display of team play and pure hustle – and pay just 20$ for the same seats. i for one don’t need no josh childress and no lebron james as long as i have that!

  • LA Huey Posted: Oct.24 at 5:42 pm
    dunkbar….so you’ve just compared the effort players put out in a preseason game versus the effort of players in games that actually matter?

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Oct.24 at 10:49 pm
    David Stern just doesn’t give a hoot. That’s some gangsta sh!t.
    Also @ Russ Bengston: Don’t be so sure yet…

  • clos1881 Posted: Oct.25 at 12:18 am
    I wouldnt worry either if I were david you dont become a legend by playing against primo brezec in rome why do think manu and dirk are here the euro league is for guys who couldnt find a place in the NBA or has been’s that still want a check (dominque wilkins shawn kemp micheal ray richardson)

  • clos1881 Posted: Oct.25 at 12:20 am
    dunkbar dont get used to brandon jennings he wont be there long.

  • will Posted: Oct.25 at 3:25 am
    send them to australia to brighten up our league

  • Aristotle Posted: Oct.25 at 10:32 am
    Nothing to worry about Mr. Stern. Nothing at all. The owners of Greek team OLYMPIACOS B.C (where Josh Childress is playing) are offering Kobe Bryant a 3yr contract of 60million Euros tax free. Liek Childress, he gets to choose whether he wishes to stay on the next season. They are going to pay his taxes, they are paying for his villa with a butler, paying for a car with his own chauffer, giving him a yacht, and will build him a gym. They are also covering all the expenses of his kids at school. Kobe Bryant has won every award, plus a gold medal, so why wouldn’t he go there if billionaires are willing to pay that? Plus, IRS can’t touch a cent of all this 60 million euros. I think that’s a sound investment for any NBA star player. What do these owners get back? Well firstly, as billionaire business owners, they wouldn’t waste their money like this unless they can smell a profit. You will see major merchandising taking place worldwide. Crowd attendances will rise(some to give love, others to give hate), rivalries between European clubs and countries will grow through their star player, and Kobe, Dwyane, LeBron, etc will be like the Zidane, Beckham, and Ronaldo of basketball. So no Mr. Stern, there’s nothing to worry about with Kobe Bryant in Olympiakos, LeBron James in Panathinaikos, Dwyane Wade in Barcelona, Carmelo Anthony in Real Madrid, Chris Paul in Benetton Treviso, Chris Bosh for Virtus Roma, Nowitzki back in Germany playing for ALBA Berlin, Tim Duncan for CSKA Moscow and so on. Nothing to worry about at all Mr. Stern.

  • Anton Posted: Oct.25 at 4:00 pm
    this’ll seperate those who love the game and those who love the money

  • eric keith Posted: Oct.25 at 6:13 pm
    Stern wasnt talking about the players caring about the number of fans at the games. It is dollars that the limited number of fans could generate to pay the larger salaries. Basically Europe can compete dollar for dollar to pull a vast amount of players from the NBA

  • Aristotle Posted: Oct.26 at 10:03 am
    Anton… No disrespect, but since when does a player leaving the NBA and taking his trade to Europe mean he doesn’t love the game of basketball? He’s still getting paid to do the thing he loves most, and that’s playing basketball. It just means he can secure his future financially. And you know what? You haven’t seen love for basketball until you go and watch a game with those basketball fans. They wear their love on their sleeve.
    We all know that every kid who plays basketball, plays with the dream to make the NBA some day. Some will be All-Stars, others will fade away. Some enjoyed success or failure and now need that one final deal to help them secure their future financially. It’s not a crime. The way European stars want to come to the NBA to play against the best and prove themselves, NBA players will start making sure that they look after themselves for when basketball is finished.
    Kobe Bryant has nothing else to prove in the NBA. Josh Childress, probably wanted to make sure that he could save for a rainy day while he’s still young. In the end, basketball wins. It starts to become as global as football. Has nothing to do with seperating those who love the game and those who love the money.
    The NBA will always have superstars, and will never be replaced. But Mr. Stern shouldn’t act like the NBA is the only right choice on “simple economics” for the top dogs of the NBA to stay.

  • Anton Posted: Oct.26 at 1:23 pm
    fair enough, but I view it as biting the hand that feeds you.
    I mean if any of the top 10 players in the NBA decide to go elsewhere simply because of tax-free cash, that’s saying something.
    Why would Kobe cross the pond? He’s got a great team around him and seems to be enjoying himself. Same goes for the other big stars.
    Now I can see how a 34,35,36 year-old-player who’s past his prime would choose to go overseas, seeing as how it’ll save the NBA money and the league woun’t lose much as a result.
    As it stands, the NBA is the best basketball league in the world and leaving it for other leagues only means financial motivation at this point.

  • Z Posted: Oct.26 at 11:39 pm
    There’s only one flaw to Stern’s theory and he knows it very well : the rich owners in Europe are not trying to create an economic system that supports those contracts.
    Pro teams are their toys. Just look at how Chelsea FC is run! They buy everybody and they’re constantly in the red. Abramovic doesn’t give a f— about making money off of a sports team, he merely wants to be entertained. And that’s exactly what the Greek brothers are going to do.

  • d-mo Posted: Oct.27 at 12:11 am
    If one of the top dawgs do leave, I guess it would b some sh**!!!!!

  • Froggiestyle Posted: Oct.27 at 3:52 am
    Aristotle – sorry to burst your bubble but the IRS will make KB pay taxes – there’s a foreign earned income cap and he will go over. He’s not about to renounce his US citizenship nor US residences. Trust me on this, if you have a US passport and any US. res. you pay taxes – dont kid yourself.

  • Aristotle Posted: Oct.27 at 10:23 pm
    Well thanks for that Froggiestyle. Being from Australia I wouldn’t know the exact rules for taxes there in the USA. Would he also really need to renounce his citizenship? I’m sure the Greeks can keep him on a different type of visa. But if he needs to pay taxes, I’m sure then it’s upto him to check it out, and see if it suits him. Thanks again for that Froggiestyle.

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