They Just Wanna Play

Here we go again with the lockouts. Just as the NFL finishes up their lockout, the NBA enters into one. You’ll never hear a fan say, “Man, I’m sure glad there’s a lockout right now.” Let’s face it, lockouts are the worst. The athletes in NFL didn’t have too many other options, but the NBA players sure are exercising theirs.

A few years leading up to this point, NBA players were getting attention from the European leagues. Many ask: Why would you want to go play basketball overseas? Well, there are several reasons. First and most importantly: money. European teams were willing to dish out millions of dollars, because there is no limit to how much they can spend on a player. Not only that, but the government isn’t going to take away half of your money with taxes. In Europe, there are no taxes, so the money they would earn is the money they keep. Finally, if you are an average player in the NBA and go over to Europe to play, you instantly become an All-Star over there; a fan favorite.

Prime example would be Josh Childress. Childress was an average undrafted player in the NBA, but when he decided to leave, he just about doubled his net income while playing with a team from Greece. This caught much attention in the United States. When LeBron James’ contract was up in Cleveland and he was weighing his options on where to play, rumor was he was being offered $50 million a year to play in Spain.

Now, that the NBA has a lockout players want to continue to play ball. I mean, face it, Kobe Bryant isn’t getting any younger; his time of playing is expiring. Maybe that’s why he was quoted the other day as saying it didn’t matter where he plays, whoever pays, he’ll play.

All-Star point guard Deron Williams has already made the move to Turkey. He’s getting paid, staying in game-shape and running a team while the lawyers and players union try to figure out the business side of the NBA. In fact, the union is encouraging players to go out there and try and play for whatever team necessary. Why not? Go travel for a couple months; put some untaxed money in your pockets meanwhile keeping your game tight for the potential upcoming season.

Coming from a basketball fanatic who has no hometown NBA team, one of two things need to happen. Either David Stern and the players union get something worked out as soon as possible, or ESPN starts televising games overseas so we can watch them at home on the couch.