Hello Celebritys

This story is a few days old, but I had to get my thoughts in on this subject. Florida Gators point guard Nick Calathes has signed a contract to play for Panathinaikos in Greece this season instead of entering the NBA draft.

The deal, sources said, will pay Calathes around $1.1 million per year, in addition to providing him with a home, car and tax credits, making for a total package commensurate to what the NBA rookie salary scale provides a late-lottery selection. Golden's State forward Anthony Randolph, the final lottery pick of 2008 at No. 14, made $1.424 million as a rookie. (Orlando Sentinel)

I never really thought I would say this, but is this where the future of basketball is headed? I am not saying that negatively either. Last year we had Brandon Jennings go straight to Europe instead of going to college, California superstar Jeremy Tyler will forgo his senior year of high school to play in Europe, and Josh Childress and Jennaro Pargo (a NBA veteran) signed deals to play overseas.

Nick Calathes was projected to be a late first round draft pick, and apparently the Mavs were interested in him with the 22^nd pick. Let’s use that as an example here…If he was to go at #22 or later, how much playing time would he receive over here? Probably not much. Those late draft picks are usually for good teams that do not need a lot of help. How beneficial is it for him to ride the pine? In this situation, he can go to Greece and actually compete for playing time and improve his game. A NBA team can still draft him for his rights, so if Calathes wants to come back later, he could do that. I feel like in this case, the money scale is pretty much equal and the guy just wants a chance to play.

Now, I don’t agree with a player like Jeremy Tyler skipping his senior year of high school to go play in Europe. If college isn’t your thing and you don’t want to go, that is fine, but you can’t let your child drop out of school to play basketball. Apparently he will get his G.E.D. but we will see about that. I just don’t feel like that is a good move for the kids’ future outside of basketball.

So, my question is, are these players doing it for the money, fame, or to play the game?? Does it even matter? I think you can say it would vary in case to case. It seems some of the younger guys just want a chance to play, but others are just looking for the pay check.

Now, what if this trend keeps up and Americans continue to go to Europe and the European leagues continue to improve? I think it is kind of cool to think about. Could basketball become like soccer where you have tournaments with teams from all over the world?

Think about it like the UEFA Champions League. That tournament has top soccer teams from England, Spain, Italy, etc…What if FIBA or some association set up a tournament with the best basketball teams in the world? Say you take the Eastern and Western Conference Champions from the NBA, and the top 2 teams from Italy, Spain, France, Brazil, Japan, whoever and hold a tournament every 2-4 years when there aren’t Olympics.

I think that idea is a LONG way off, but with the way basketball’s popularity is growing, it could happen.

This story is a few days old, but I had to get my thoughts in on this subject. Florida Gators point guard Nick Calathes has signed a contract to play for Panathinaikos in Greece this season instead of entering the NBA draft.

The deal, sources said, will pay Calathes around $1.1 million per year, in addition to providing him with a home, car and tax credits, making for a total package commensurate to what the NBA rookie salary scale provides a late-lottery selection. Golden's State forward Anthony Randolph, the final lottery pick of 2008 at No. 14, made $1.424 million as a rookie. (Orlando Sentinel)

I never really thought I would say this, but is this where the future of basketball is headed? I am not saying that negatively either. Last year we had Brandon Jennings go straight to Europe instead of going to college, California superstar Jeremy Tyler will forgo his senior year of high school to play in Europe, and Josh Childress and Jennaro Pargo (a NBA veteran) signed deals to play overseas.

Nick Calathes was projected to be a late first round draft pick, and apparently the Mavs were interested in him with the 22^nd pick. Let’s use that as an example here…If he was to go at #22 or later, how much playing time would he receive over here? Probably not much. Those late draft picks are usually for good teams that do not need a lot of help. How beneficial is it for him to ride the pine? In this situation, he can go to Greece and actually compete for playing time and improve his game. A NBA team can still draft him for his rights, so if Calathes wants to come back later, he could do that. I feel like in this case, the money scale is pretty much equal and the guy just wants a chance to play.

Now, I don’t agree with a player like Jeremy Tyler skipping his senior year of high school to go play in Europe. If college isn’t your thing and you don’t want to go, that is fine, but you can’t let your child drop out of school to play basketball. Apparently he will get his G.E.D. but we will see about that. I just don’t feel like that is a good move for the kids’ future outside of basketball.

So, my question is, are these players doing it for the money, fame, or to play the game?? Does it even matter? I think you can say it would vary in case to case. It seems some of the younger guys just want a chance to play, but others are just looking for the pay check.

Now, what if this trend keeps up and Americans continue to go to Europe and the European leagues continue to improve? I think it is kind of cool to think about. Could basketball become like soccer where you have tournaments with teams from all over the world?

Think about it like the UEFA Champions League. That tournament has top soccer teams from England, Spain, Italy, etc…What if FIBA or some association set up a tournament with the best basketball teams in the world? Say you take the Eastern and Western Conference Champions from the NBA, and the top 2 teams from Italy, Spain, France, Brazil, Japan, whoever and hold a tournament every 2-4 years when there aren’t Olympics.

I think that idea is a LONG way off, but with the way basketball’s popularity is growing, it could happen.