LeBron to Europe?

[Peja]

Umm,I just saw Kobe's statement on one serbian site.He said that after his contract expires next summer he will change the team and the next destination will probably be Europe.He also said he'd like to come to Italy where he grew up,but if some european team gives him 50 million $ (40 million euro),he will go there without any doubt.

WTF?!I thought he is going to continue to fight for that ring that he couldn't win without Shaq.This sounds unbelievable.

edit:For those who speak serbian,here's the link
http://mtsmondo.com/sport/vesti/text.php?vest=105840

edit2ops,this should go to NBA,I didn't see the topic was transfered.Sorry

 

[JerN820]

Now Kobe is sayin the same ****. I think this is they way these guys are trying to raise their salary over here in the US. its pretty crappy way to be when you are already a multimillionaire. I think when ppl like those 2 start saying things like this it can hurt the NBA. Screw them let em walk overpaid childish ****ers.

It would just open up spots for more great ballers, who dont necessarily get that chance at the big time.I mean, think about how many great players are out there and how many players total there are on NBA rosters. Yeah, it would suck if a lot of our talent went to Europe though. Basketball was invented in America and is our sport (I dont mean it to demean the rest of the world and they have defintiely caught up to the U.S.). But the NBA is supposed to be the premiere league. That's like the top soccer players in their prime leaving their European Premiere League team to come play in the MLS. LOL

 

[BritishColumbia]

Now Kobe is sayin the same ****. I think this is they way these guys are trying to raise their salary over here in the US. its pretty crappy way to be when you are already a multimillionaire. I think when ppl like those 2 start saying things like this it can hurt the NBA. Screw them let em walk overpaid childish ****ers.

... extortion by blackmail

 

[beb0p]

Systems are not static. Neither are preferences. You either anticipate the next trend, the next challenge, or you pay for it in the long run. Trust me, I work in a risk anticipation business. If you sit around and assume that nothing will ever change, ignore warning signals, then you are headed straight for a **** storm. Which is actually always very good for those of us paid to clean it up for you. But very foolish of you.

Twenty years from now that figures to be bigger still. Time are a changin'. The challenge is how to stay ahead of that curve, whether it be through changing the nature of NBA contracts, creating a Euro division to absorb and co-opt the biggest Euro threats, or whatever.

Brick, what you described is going to take several generations for it to happen, if indeed it is going to happen at all.

Twenty years from now, soccer will still the the #1, #2, #3... to #100 most popular sport in Europe. Basketball will be er... #101, if you're lucky.

A hundred years fro now, soccer will still be the #1 to #100 most popular sports. Get my drift? No matter how fast basketball grows, it will never ever comes remotely close to 1/100 as popular as soccer in ten lifetimes. The gap between soccer and any other sports is like the gap from here to Jupiter. For people who weren't exposed to the soccer culture, I know it's difficult to grasp the dedication. Simply, you can't think of soccer as a sport, it's like a religion but even more popular and with several times more devotion.

If some European billionaire playboy spend $50 millions on Kobe; for the rest of his life, people will say about him, "What an idiot, he could have Ronaldino for that kind of money. Instead, he wasted it on come some guy who can't even kick a ball."

If you really want to stay ahead of the curve, it's not Europe, but Asia who posts the biggest threat to sign away NBA stars in the future. Basketball has exploded in Asia and a star signing could pay for itself just in jersey sales. Right now, the Chinese's middle class isn't up to speed yet, but in twenty years they are projected to have the largest middle to upper class in the planet and with similar spending power as we do. Think of the salary and the endorsement. What athlete doesn't want a piece of that pie? A really, really big piece at that.

 

[Warhawk]

If you really want to stay ahead of the curve, it's not Europe, but Asia who posts the biggest threat to sign away NBA stars in the future. Basketball has exploded in Asia and a star signing could pay for itself just in jersey sales. Right now, the Chinese's middle class isn't up to speed yet, but in twenty years they are projected to have the largest middle to upper class in the planet and with similar spending power as we do. Think of the salary and the endorsement. What athlete doesn't want a piece of that pie? A really, really big piece at that.

But how many NBA players have bolted from the NBA to Asia recently? You are ignoring the point of Brick's post - there are warning signs out there because of what has happened this summer. Maybe it really doesn't go anywhere other than a few MLE-type players and one or two lower-level stars on occasion, but maybe it does lead to more. I don't hear Kobe saying that he'd bolt to say, Mongolia, for $50 mil, do you?

 

[Dime Dropper]

It would just open up spots for more great ballers, who dont necessarily get that chance at the big time.I mean, think about how many great players are out there and how many players total there are on NBA rosters. Yeah, it would suck if a lot of our talent went to Europe though. Basketball was invented in America and is our sport (I dont mean it to demean the rest of the world and they have defintiely caught up to the U.S.). But the NBA is supposed to be the premiere league. That's like the top soccer players in their prime leaving their European Premiere League team to come play in the MLS. LOL

Just to be clear, Beckham was nowhere near his prime when he left for MLS. He was at his best in England, which was a few years before his move to the US.

 

[VF21]

Umm,I just saw Kobe's statement on one serbian site.He said that after his contract expires next summer he will change the team and the next destination will probably be Europe.He also said he'd like to come to Italy where he grew up,but if some european team gives him 50 million $ (40 million euro),he will go there without any doubt.

WTF?!I thought he is going to continue to fight for that ring that he couldn't win without Shaq.This sounds unbelievable.

edit:For those who speak serbian,here's the link
http://mtsmondo.com/sport/vesti/text.php?vest=105840

edit2ops,this should go to NBA,I didn't see the topic was transfered.Sorry

No offense whatsoever, Peja, but I wouldn't put too much credence into stuff like this. If I remember, this is the same Serbian site that has posted stuff about Serbian athletes playing in the US that proved to be taken out of context, totally made up, etc.

I would have to hear the sound-byte from Kobe Bryant himself saying his next destination is going to be Europe before I'd believe it. Look at it this way: IF (and that's the world's biggest "IF") Kobe Bryant had made that kind of statement, it would be all over ESPN, not too mention every single Lakers board on the Internet. It's not. Why not? Because Kobe never said it.

 

[Peja]

I figured that statement should be like a wake up call for the people who lead NBA to change something.
Well,he apparently said that to a serbian reporter,cuz' today they also said that on tv,while there was USA-China game,but who knows.

 

[VF21]

Again, what you see/hear from your Serbian media is somewhat slanted. Had Kobe Bryant come right out and said "I'm going to leave the NBA and play in Italy" it would have been breaking news in LA, it would have been cause for a special report from ESPN, etc. I think he may have made comments about possibly considering an offer from Italy, for example, but such comments could easily have been taken out of context OR misinterpreted. And hearing them second- or third-hand from a Serbian reporter without an accompanying sound-byte makes it more likely they made some kind of mistake or misstatement.

It's not just about the money and NO superstars from the NBA have bolted to Europe ... yet. If/when they do, that will be cause for some kind of alarm but I don't see it happening in the near future.

And wasn't there a denial from the Greek team that they'd ever even considered an offer like that to Lebron? (I know it may be in this thread or somewhere else around here; I'm trying to catch up from missing a day of the Internet so I'm not sure where I saw it).

As far as Brick's comments that "times are changing," I'm still waiting to see the first BIG American star in Europe. That, to me, would signal the beginning of a change. Until then, there's talk and speculation but the smoke might not indicate an actual fire.

 

[JerN820]

Just to be clear, Beckham was nowhere near his prime when he left for MLS. He was at his best in England, which was a few years before his move to the US.

You must have misinterpreted what I was saying. Nothing I was saying had anything to do with Beckham. Where did I mention his name? My point was that you DONT see European Preimere League players in their prime bolting for the MLS. Hence, Beckham isnt in his prime. He wasnt even starting for Real Madrid shortly before he signed with the Galaxy.

 

[Dime Dropper]

You must have misinterpreted what I was saying. Nothing I was saying had anything to do with Beckham. Where did I mention his name? My point was that you DONT see European Preimere League players in their prime bolting for the MLS. Hence, Beckham isnt in his prime. He wasnt even starting for Real Madrid shortly before he signed with the Galaxy.

Oops, sorry! I thought your "" at the end meant you were being sarcastic (that you meant Beckham was in his prime when he left for USA). Misunderstood you, sorry.

 

[JerN820]

Oops, sorry! I thought your "" at the end meant you were being sarcastic (that you meant Beckham was in his prime when he left for USA). Misunderstood you, sorry.

haha It's all good. I just cant imagine Lebron going over to Europe in two years. Evidently it is a possiblity. I wonder what the magnitude of something like that would do to the NBA?

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I think it would be a large ripple, but nothing more until either 3 or 4 marquee guys took off all at once or someone that had already won a couple of championships and was still in their prime took off, essentially declaring they've conquered the NBA, next the world. Otherwise it will be written off as a player being frustrated with his team or not being able to live up to expectations, etc.

 

[beb0p]

But how many NBA players have bolted from the NBA to Asia recently? You are ignoring the point of Brick's post - there are warning signs out there because of what has happened this summer. Maybe it really doesn't go anywhere other than a few MLE-type players and one or two lower-level stars on occasion, but maybe it does lead to more. I don't hear Kobe saying that he'd bolt to say, Mongolia, for $50 mil, do you?

Actually Warhawk, if you read the last paragraph of Brick's post, he is dealing with issues that are twenty years or so from now. He's saying the NBA should prepare for potential future competition from Europe because the basketball landscape could be dramatically different two decades into the future.

My point is, it's not Europe but Asia that you should worry about. Twenty years from now, if Kobe is still playing, he may very well be playing in Mongolia, but probably not for $50 millions unless there's a massive inflation.

 

[Rookie]

As for futbol -- Europe's soccer fetish has always been a bit unnatural in its exclusivity. Nothing in the foreseeable future will ever displace it as the #1 sport, but its a massive market full of hundreds of millions of people just as varied as those in the U.S., and there is more than enough room for a number of other major sports over there. Basketball's has a huge toehold today compared to what it had twenty years ago. Twenty years from now that figures to be bigger still. Time are a changin'. The challenge is how to stay ahead of that curve, whether it be through changing the nature of NBA contracts, creating a Euro division to absorb and co-opt the biggest Euro threats, or whatever.

Hmm I don't see anywhere in Brick post that he stated basketball will come close to Soccer. How did any of you see it and use soccer to compare to basketball?

He did states that Euro market is huge and possiblily have room for another major sport, namely basketball. I tend to agree and base on what it was 10-20 years ago, it has grown tremendously. Especially after the US team failed to get gold for the last two Olympics. That just boost some more basketball visibilty to the general population in Europe.

Basketball in the Euro league may not be popular enough to compared to 1% of Soccer but hell it sure is enough to be compared to the NBA. What I have seen is the NBA has been recruiting players from Europe more and more each year and now the Euro league is starting to recruit from the NBA. If that doesn't show sign the market in Europe is growing, I'm not sure what does.

Now for bringing Asia up the day when they start to take resources from the NBA is the day when the Kings will be the London's Kings.

As for LBJ and all other star players...they're human, they go where the $$$ is. With the right price 99.9% of the people on this Earth can be bought.

 

[kennadog]

With the right price 99.9% of the people on this Earth can be bought.

Wow, how cynical. I guess I'm still naive at 58. I wouldn't have thought I was in a group of only 0.1%.

On the other hand, where one plays basketball isn't a moral decision. So if anyone wants to pay me a lot of money to do my job in a country besides the US, I'm officially considering all offers.

 

[Warhawk]

Wow, how cynical. I guess I'm still naive at 58. I wouldn't have thought I was in a group of only 0.1%.

On the other hand, where one plays basketball isn't a moral decision. So if anyone wants to pay me a lot of money to do my job in a country besides the US, I'm officially considering all offers.

I assume that is what he meant by "bought".

 

[Rookie]

Wow, how cynical. I guess I'm still naive at 58. I wouldn't have thought I was in a group of only 0.1%.

On the other hand, where one plays basketball isn't a moral decision. So if anyone wants to pay me a lot of money to do my job in a country besides the US, I'm officially considering all offers.

Well age doesn't have anything to do with wisdom IMO its experience but what you stated I agreed. Not everything can be bought when it comes to one belief and morality. There are always certain morals that would overcome the temptation.

I wouldn't push an old lady on the street for a trillion dollars but hell that would be very tempting. Hold on...let me think about this one.

Warhawk answered it for me. If you're happy with your work place but accept an offer somewhere else because its much higher, you just been bought.

Anyway back to the subject.