Monday, July 6th, 2009 at 9:00 am  |  29 responses

How Toronto Charmed Turkoglu and Wife

For Hedo and the missus, the T.Dot proved to be a much better option than Portland: “Hedo Turkoglu and his wife, Banu, who grew up high school sweethearts in their native Istanbul, should arrive here this week to officially sign a five-year contract worth about $53 million (U.S.) and – in a departure from the norm – it wasn’t the money that attracted them. It was the city and what it had to offer. According to sources, Banu Turkoglu, who gave birth to the couple’s first daughter earlier this year, is wildly enthusiastic about the significant Turkish population here. The couple appreciates the European flavour of the city and decided lifestyle concerns were enough to opt for the move. ‘It’s a uniquely cosmopolitan and international community and it suits him and his family best,’ Turkoglu’s agent, Lon Babby, said in a conference call last night. ‘The comfort level was just best in Toronto.”

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  • Rasheedionics Posted: Jul.6 at 9:09 am
    He’s from Turkey!!! What would he know about the European flavour??? Turko never lived or played in Europe… It was about more money. With that being said, pretty sure Toronto is much nicer than Portland.

  • trick.. Posted: Jul.6 at 9:14 am
    yeah right, the extra millions had nothing to do with it..

  • john marzan Posted: Jul.6 at 9:16 am
    he’s not afraid of canada’s high taxes?

  • Jukai Posted: Jul.6 at 9:17 am
    Rasheedionics: Portland’s pretty nice dude. It’s not Portland nice, but it’s a great city.

  • yertu damkule Posted: Jul.6 at 9:26 am
    re. the money – looks like it’s a total of $3M over 5 years (~$1.6M/yr). throw in the higher taxes he’ll be paying, and he’ll actually be taking home less than if he’d signed in portland. so, yeah, it’s all about the money… re. the city – i’ve in TO…it’s ok. i’m not of an ethnic minority, so i can’t comment on what that kind of appeal is. as for portland…never been, but the wife has, and she said it was fantastic, beautiful, clean, progressive. throw in that they have a young exciting team, and i’m a bit perplexed why he’d not want to go there, but family’s important. everyone knows, if wifey ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy…

  • WhaHuh Posted: Jul.6 at 10:07 am
    fair enough

  • niQ Posted: Jul.6 at 10:35 am
    Hedo: money talks.

  • Rome Posted: Jul.6 at 10:37 am
    Its not Istanbul its Constantinople…lol

  • EarthJuice Posted: Jul.6 at 10:50 am
    yertu damkule, some people like city living. Living in a cosmopolitan city with a vibrant streetlife is quite appealing. Clearly you don’t, so I would guess you live in the suburbs. Portland is not cosmopolitan by anyones standard (unless they live in the country). I can’t for the life of me figure out why you are perplexed. Don’t spend much time downtown, I reckon. Enjoy your evening listening to the crickets.

  • Phil B Posted: Jul.6 at 11:01 am
    I hear Toronto is a really cool city, but hella cold in winter. Yes, it rains a lot in Portland (no more so than NYC if you compare average rainfall), but I’m not sure if it’s ever gonna be the city that really draws in free agents. Going to Little Beirut, isn’t exactly a selling point for most NBA players. However, had Turkoglu had any interest in winning a championship or anything like that, he would have A) stayed in Orland or B) signed with Portland. It’s all fine and great to let your wife have a strong opinion in where you play (no way I’m moving my family to another city without my wife’s consultation and approval), we all want basketball players to want to win the ultimate prize. As a Blazers fan though, I really wasn’t psyched about signed Hedo, so I’m not heartbroken.

  • ENDS Posted: Jul.6 at 11:08 am
    Rasheedionics he never lived or playe din Europe???? Do you think he was born in Orlando?

  • RBB Posted: Jul.6 at 11:24 am
    Taxes are different for sports players in Canada than for the rest of the population. The tax act changed about 5-10 years ago. Thus, it is roughly now equivalent to play in Canada as it is in the states. Toronto is not extremely cold in the winter; its about the same climate as NY. Go to western Canada (Calgary, Edmonton, etc.. and its freezing during the winter time)….but due to the lake effect of Lake Ontario, our climate is actual more mild than Chicago or Buffalo. Hope this clears up some fallacies.

  • thesubwayconnection Posted: Jul.6 at 11:25 am
    Colangelo: “WAIT HEDO! WE HAVE TURKISH PEOPLE!!!”

  • werm Posted: Jul.6 at 11:37 am
    let me hear ya say t dot o0o0o

  • Rome Posted: Jul.6 at 11:55 am
    MArk my words sooner or later he will towards the end of his current deaL, start talking about winning a championship…how its soooo important and Toronto is not getting it done..

  • Hedo Posted: Jul.6 at 12:32 pm
    Plus there’s a direct flight from Istanbul to Toronto everyday.

  • rav Posted: Jul.6 at 12:58 pm
    part of istanbul is in asia – i think that’s what rasheedionics is on about

  • CJK Posted: Jul.6 at 4:05 pm
    Yeah, Turkey is considered like the end of europe/beginning of asia… as for Toronto being a nicer city, wasn’t Portland named the cleanest city in the country or nicest place to live? Idk, maybe that was san fran but i’m pretty sure it was Portland.

  • Tenorca Posted: Jul.6 at 4:09 pm
    San Francisco was deinitely not named the cleanest city in the country. We each have a bum living in our house. It’s the law.

  • seven deuce Posted: Jul.6 at 4:16 pm
    Well I guess the management decided to make sure that Chris Bosh leaves next year if they can’t trade him. Because once he has to keep covering Hedo’s defensive mistakes and untimely 3pters, that will make up his mind for him.

  • vmcb Posted: Jul.6 at 4:57 pm
    Rasheedionics, Istanbul is in Europe.

  • nate the great Posted: Jul.6 at 5:00 pm
    i live right next to portland. it isnt that great of a place at all. but its surrondings are good. the practice facility isnt even in portland.
    but the real reason why hedo went to toronto is because his wife can smoke w33d now.
    and do what ever she wants.
    hedo didnt want to be the next arvides sabonis.
    his wife got deported and he left with her.
    now hedo and his wife can smoke and party and be perfectly fine.

  • Ken Posted: Jul.6 at 5:03 pm
    LOL at Tenorca. Nice.

  • Linkage for Jul 5 8am to Jul 6 6pm - Raptors Republic Posted: Jul.6 at 7:01 pm
    [...] SLAM ONLINE | » How Toronto Charmed Turkoglu and Wife [...]

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Jul.6 at 8:26 pm
    Being from Toronto and New York, I can say the weather in the two cities is pretty similar. Toronto might be a tad bit colder and snow a tad bit more sometimes, but overall the two cities are really similar. Even beyond weather.

  • Scruffz Posted: Jul.6 at 9:29 pm
    Jesus christ. People tihnk Toronto is like Siberia. It gets not colder than New York, Boston, or any other city on the east coast. Come to think of it, Buffalo might have a harsher winter than we do. I know for a fact that their snowstorms are way worse. Besides, Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world. I can see why they’d feel very comfortable raising their kid here for a few years. Also, there are certain programs that athletes in Canada can tax advantage of in order to avoid getting taxed heavily, so keeping most of the money you make here is a hell of a lot easier than it was even 10-15 years ago.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Jul.6 at 9:38 pm
    Actually, I’ve lived in Buffalo before, too. Just not as long as in Toronto or New York. Buffalo has a way worse winter than Toronto does, by far. Buffalo snows more than a lot of cities in Canada do even. Buffalo is like the Vancouver of snow.

  • Dacre Posted: Jul.9 at 7:18 pm
    Toront-Ottoman Empire.

  • Tbone Posted: Aug.4 at 11:39 am
    they only offered two million more than portland so it wasn’t the money, it is because portland the city is nothing compared to Tdot

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