Chinese Basketball officials will meet on Friday to decide on the opt-out clause: NBA Update
The European teams possess a strict policy regarding roster rotation, game plan, have limited import seats to fill and moreover they cannot bear the high salaries of the National Basketball Association players.
Therefore, not just megastars like Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, but other players also see more potential in the Chinese Basketball League. There are several excellent reasons behind this.
One, China is now the emerging hub of the international brands and among them is Nike that can offer NBA players some good cash in the form of sponsorship. Secondly most of the star players had said earlier that they will not go
overseas unless the lockout affects into the regular-season.
The Chinese league doesn’t start until the end of November, so this will give NBA players ample time to evaluate the lockout situation. In addition to that Chinese teams were ready to provide the NBA players relaxation in the training
routines as well.
However, the recent development in the Chinese league is not so good for the American players. The Chinese league is under the strong influence of their government. Infact it is run by them. In the past few weeks there were reports
that the Chinese League management has decided to ban the escape clause from the future pacts of the foreign players, in order to stop it from becoming a “rent an NBA player” league.
An anonymous source said, “From the very beginning, the CBA wasn’t interested in attracting superstars. First, they’re tough to manage. Second, we have no idea when the lockout is going to end. And when it does end, they’re definitely
going to go back to the NBA. That would destroy our league. From our understanding, most teams don’t want big name players either. So, I think it’s going to be impossible for a superstar to come here and play this season.”
This is effect will bar the participation of many NBA players, who wanted to venture overseas due to the lockout. In doing do, FIBA requires the players to include an opt-out clause in their contracts so that they can return to
the States as soon as the NBA owners and players reach an agreement on the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and the lockout is lifted.
The Chinese League is apparently not willing to allow the NBA players to come in and leave at their own will, thus leaving the season of the team that are associated with in tatters.
To assess the opt-out clause and other rules for the 2011-12 season, the CBA is reportedly conducting the most anticipated meeting this Friday in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. As far as out clause is concerned a source said that
they are definitely implementing the it and it just requires a formal approval.
Additionally the CBA might also introduce some new playing rules for foreign players and the league is also decide whether it’s going to expand its teams to 18 or not.
The basic reason behind not giving the escape clause is that CBA follows the overall policy laid by the government which puts the interest of the Chinese basketball above all. To be precise it is the success of their national team
that matters the most.
The influx of the foreign players would definitely damage the development of their upcoming players. Therefore necessary measurements are required to deal with the situation. The ban on the out clause will provide Chinese players
more opportunity to play, which will be beneficial for the preparations of the 2012 London Olympics.
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