Miami Heat: Players who should or shouldn’t consider playing overseas – NBA Feature (Part 1)
With the next season fast approaching and new Collective Bargaining Agreement talks nowhere near a solution, the National Basketball Association players are now more seriously thinking about playing overseas. For that very purpose
some players are in talks with different international teams, while others are weighing their options in order to determine where they should go.
According to the schedule released by the league, the next NBA season is scheduled to start from November 1. However, the way things are going now it seems hard that NBA players will suit up for their respective teams this November.
So far none of the big stars have signed a pact with any international team, except for the New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams. D-Will was the first player to sign a pact with an international team with heavy salary and
opt-out clause that will allow him to return to the States whenever the lockout gets over.
After Williams, Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Kobe Bryant was the only star, who was close to sign a deal with a Turkish sports club Besiktas. However, after having few meetings with the club management eventually the talks were
terminated by Kobe and his staff, as Besiktas wasn’t able to pay the salary that Bryant was demanding.
So due to the current uncertainty not just fans, but many franchises are also keen to know whether their stars will play overseas or stay here during the lockout.
Miami Heat players however, didn’t show any clear intentions to play overseas during this lockout, apart from Dwyane Wade. The 29 year old point guard of the Heat said a few days back that he will “play somewhere come next year.”
LeBron James on the other hand hadn’t shown any interest in playing abroad, as he is still hopeful that matters regarding new CBA would soon be sorted out and lights will be turned on once again. The rest of roster is busy in different
activities and didn’t say much about going abroad.
As far as other star players are concerned, Kevin Durant the leading scorer of the previous two seasons had said that he will consider playing abroad only if the lockout scrapes the entire season. Almost similar comments were made
by the Orlando Magic’s dazzling centre Dwight Howard, who sees more potential in China as compared to Europe.
While some are waiting for the picture to get clear, others are using this extra time to rehabilitate from their injuries and surgeries. There are also some guys who are returning to the college to complete their degrees - Baron
Davis and John Wall being two of the few.
Nevertheless, now it wouldn’t take much long, when fans will start hearing that the NBA players are either signing contracts with international teams or flying abroad. As the players are looking to finalize the deals with foreign
teams, with lockout seems to be stretching into the 2011-12 season.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not represent Bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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