Chris Bosh joins the “open to play abroad” brigade – NBA Update
Chris Bosh has added his name to the players who have hinted they can go and play overseas next season, but none of whom have yet signed a deal with any foreign club. Prominent players already to have done this include Los Angeles
Lakers star Kobe Bryant, Amar’e Stoudemire of the New York Knicks and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
There are other players, like New Jersey Nets star point guard Deron Williams, who did not make much fuss about it and quietly signed deals with overseas teams. In Williams’s case that team was Turkish club Besiktas.
Bosh, who plays for the Miami Heat and is part of the much maligned Big Three, which also includes LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, has now apparently decided he wants to pack his bags and head to a new destination.
His agent has reportedly been telling that to anyone who will listen, and various news agencies have been listening. It might be just that the agent is trying to invite offers so that the player can then evaluate them, though nothing
is known for sure at the moment.
The reasoning is the same as with other players. Bosh too simply does not see the point in staying in the United States when the league is in lockout. The players cannot use the facilities of NBA franchises, they can’t even train
with the coaches or talk to the management.
In such a situation the only plausible way to keep in shape and keep fit is to play regular competitive basketball. For that, Europe looks the most likely destination, with China also being mentioned in some circles.
FIBA also declared earlier that it will not stand in the way of NBA players who want to play abroad. The only condition for getting clearance from FIBA is to have an escape clause in the contract with foreign teams. Such a clause
will allow the NBA players to return to the league if the lockout ends and represent their respective teams.
Players such as Williams already had escape clauses in their contracts even before FIBA’s announcement came. The only hurdle in the movement of star names now seems to be their own wage demands. The likes of Chris Bosh, who is
considered one of the better power forwards walking the planet, command high wages which can often be out of the reach of European teams, especially the one or two right at the top.
Bosh is the second of Miami’s Big Three to have opened the door to a move abroad, with guard Dwyane Wade already having sounded out interested parties about his intentions.
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