A lot of buzz has been made over NBA players moving overseas to play basketball. Is this a coincidence that Bostjon Nachbar and Josh Childress have both moved on, or is it a new trend?
Well, I might call it a coincidence—if not for other news of players moving overseas to play. Here is a list of players who have left the U.S. to play in other countries in this year:
- Josh Childress
- Bostjon Nachbar
- Juan Carlos Navaro
- Carlos Delfino
- Brandon Jennings
- Tiago Splitter
- Primoz Brezec
- Jaromir Jagr
- Sergei Brylin
- Martin Straka
- Ray Emery
- Jozef Stumpel
- Steve McCarthy
- Mike York
- Petteri Nummellin
- Jaroslav Hlinka
- Alexander Radulov
Wow. 17 professional hockey and basketball players are headed to Europe. I might call it a coincidence if it were three or four—but not 17.
The NHL has already acted by making an agreement with its Russian counterpart, the KHL. The deal prevents teams from contacting players from the other league who are entering the final year of their contracts. This deal was made after a Russian team had reportedly offered Evgeni Malkin a very lucrative deal to skip out on his final season with the Penguins.
NBA Commissioner David Stern has talked about expanding the league into Europe, but I doubt that this was what he meant. When the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement runs up in 2010, this issue will likely be discussed.
It seems unreasonable for the NBA to say that European teams shouldn't go for American athletes, seeing that the NBA goes after players on European teams via the NBA Draft.
Hockey and basketball could become similar to soccer. Perhaps European teams should have to pay transfer fees to teams in the NBA when they sign one of their players. I don't know everything about how things work in international trading of soccer players, but could that not work in the NBA or NHL?
This is only the tip of the iceberg. In the coming years a lot could be done to expand relations between United States sports and European sports—or the opposite could happen.
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