NBA / Jul 23, 2008 / 11:29 am
Breaking News: Josh Childress signs with Olympiakos (Greece)
Josh ChildressIt wasn’t a bluff. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that Josh Childress has signed a three-year, $20 million deal with Olympiakos in Greece.
This is the same squad that was said to be courting Ricky Davis this summer, but for them, Childress is obviously a better fit within the team-first European style. Childress’ teammates will include Lynn Greer and Sofoklis “Baby Shaq” Schortsianitis.
As for the NBA side of things, this hurts the Hawks, who were expected to be able to re-sign the restricted free agent, and may hurt the League is more players begin to follow Childress’ example.
Do you think Josh Childress has blazed a trail that we’ll see more NBA players take?
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:36 am
ERIC says:
Good for him!
He will play fewer games, make more money & will not pay taxes, have more of a chance to ’star’, and site-see in Greece and across Europe. It’s a chance of a lifetime and if he chooses, can return to the incompetent Hawks ownership later on.
I cannot imagine an American ’star’ go to overseas in this scenario, but for foreign-born players as well as mid-level players, this is an opportunity to make more money and travel the world.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:37 am
quick wit it says:
I think he’s definitely going to be coming back as fast as he can once those 3 years are up
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:37 am
CasualFan says:
This is a new development in the history of the league. Teams that don’t want to spend + a weak American dollar = Euro League defections.
I hope Josh has fun out there. $20 million tax free. I think he made a good move.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:38 am
Ashlov says:
I definitely think that Childress’ decision will have a huge impact on the NBA. David Stern will really have to consider doing away with Restricted Free Agency, or I can guarantee you that other players will do the same thing. Childress is about to make over $10 million per year, with an opt-out each year, so he can possibly return to the NBA. That’s AWESOME.
In a related note, the Hawks are the LA Clippers of the East and deserve what they’re getting. They’ve dicked around with their RFA’s, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see J-Smoove take the qualifying and walk next year to a contender. ( Go Heat! )
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:50 am
rk2 says:
One thing is for sure this will definitely speed up the developement of the NBA in europe…stern’s not abt to lose money and fans…
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:56 am
loc says:
The NBA better be careful,
things are seriously changing!
Americas not the promised land it once was and if dudes are going to make this much moeny why not. Tax free? yessir!
Truly a new development with NBA starters beginning to go to Europe to compete.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Sith Lord 24 says:
If i was Josh i may have done the same thing. 20 million for 3 years TAX FREE!!! cant beat that. if the hawks didnt offer 3 years for 30 million then money wise it makes since. he is going to average 25 a game over there. and some how some way they are going to to market that afro. he may even get some endorsement deals out of it. and that is more than what he was going to get here. Blow up then come back when the econony is better and make more bank. Why not is my ?
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
chrisGO says:
i think many others are about to follow Childress’ lead…
its funny that to many peoples’ objections, Stern still moved forward with the age limit restriction on the draft. his reasoning was to ensure that the talent in the league wouldnt suffer with lesser players getting into the league.
now, we’re going to have talented mid-level players crossing the pond to make that $$$.
so much for keeping lesser talented players out of the league, Stern might be needing them now….
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:14 pm
POINTFWD13 says:
at least now, we wont be subjected to that terrible jumpshot for a year or 2. for him personally, what a great move.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Dennis Castro says:
Good move. Of course Stern will downplay it, and stare daggers at the rogue reporter that actually asks the questions, “Could this be the start of a new trend? And should the NBA be concerned?”
I think the NBA needs to do away with guaranteed contracts. Easier said than done, but there are ways around it.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:19 pm
mavid says:
As a Hawks fan, I gotta tell yall: every diehard NBA fan should be worried.
B/c of the salary cap and luxury tax rules, a team that was actually quite cap conscious, lost a player for NOTHING, simply b/c they got undercut by a European team. The Hawks freakin offered him a 5-year, 35-mill deal or so. For Josh Childress! And he turned it down!
No team in the NBA — I repeat NO TEAM — could have legitimately given a player like Chill that deal given the salary cap and luxury tax.
It sucks for us Hawks fans. Sucks a lot. Just a no-win situation for us (but a BIG win for Josh Childress).
Will the NBA write a “Josh Childress rule” into the collective bargaining agreement??
To Josh Childress: I understand what you did and why, but still, FUCK YOU! There were plenty of Hawks fans that appreciated what you brought on the court. I know you got your money, and I understand that, but still, FUCK YOU!
Ok, im done here.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
mavid says:
One more thing: Sasha Vujajic just became a big target for ATL
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
fiyaman says:
still waiting on my Ewing jersey
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Jim says:
As long as the dollar is weak and you run into summers like this one where there’s not a lot of money going around, you are going to see this happen. 7/year with a nice pad, car, and no taxes is more like 10 here. Think about who gets 10 here. That being said, $ isn’t going to stay weak forever and teams will have more money the next two years, supposedly.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
nick says:
i’d take that tax free money too.
but on a bigger scale of things the nba is gonna have to change their rfa dealings plus get rid of the 1 yr college deal again. Jennings and j-chill are making the nba have to look real hard at some issues. Imagine if alot of the top tier hs and college players went to europe instead of the league. The talent level would drop significantly and lose a good amount of viewers at the same time.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:00 pm
johnny says:
More will follow, yes indeed.
The NBA’s biggest concern is the draft tho. Why should somebody even enter the draft anymore? To get a 4 year rookie contract? You do have to sign up for the draft, don’t you?
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Luigi says:
watch…
some random team will give Lebron 300 mill for 7 yrs. in europe
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Prof. TX says:
Good for him. I’d love for someone to pay my living costs and give me a 50% raise just to go live in another country for a couple of years. If you don’t have family to worry about and the country is a good one, why not?
The next collective bargaining session will be where Stern tries to extend the college requirement from 1yr to 2yrs. If he backs off, deals like this may be the cause. If he gets his way and gains what will essentially be a free NCAA farm system for his teams, then more guys will be headed overseas rather than put up with corrupt Stern rules.
Come to think of it, isn’t that guy long overdue for retirement?
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Jim says:
@johnny The draft is required for all players 23 and under, under the CBA.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Jeronimo says:
Mmm, people, I know this is slightly off-topic but, who says this money is tax free? Don’t they have to pay taxes in Greece?
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:20 pm
dc says:
i don’t think the NBA is in trouble. what other team in the league would have offered him $20mil for three years? he didn’t fit the needs of any other team with cap room and/or players for a sign and trade. he decided to go get his money overseas which is good for him. as sith suggested, he’ll probably get endorsement deals out of this that he wouldn’t have gotten had he stayed in the US. besides, the atl front office is a mess. with his opt-out clause, he can come back next year when he’ll be an unrestricted fa and possibly get a better deal.
brandon jennings going overseas to play for a year doesn’t mean anything right now. he could go over there and get hurt or get into trouble because he’s not mature enough to make the transition. or he could go over and absolutely kill the comp and make himself an attractive pick next year. there are too many variables right now to suggest that this could become a trend. the only effect it’ll have here, should it become the next “thing to do” is that deserving students who want a college education may be able to do it on scholarship b/c the athletes that are taking them up now who don’t really want to pursue their education will be jumping across the pond.
i personally think the nba should up the requirement to equal the nfl. but that’s for another discussion.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Leith says:
Hello, America. Welcome to the rest of the globe!
Ashlov, if anything, this is a sure sign that Europe doesn’t need the NBA as much as the NBA needs Europe. I highly doubt that there’ll ever be an NBA team based outside of North America.
Like it or not, and this is a concept plenty of Americans have been slow to grasp, even with the wordlwide appeal it has held over the best part of the past two decades, the NBA can only ever operate as a domestic league (plus Canada, maybe Mexico). Not only for logistical reasons, but because of the encroachment in to and weakening of other FIBA territories any expansion would present. (Hmmm… sounds like the policy of another prominent office, doesn’t it? But, I digress.) Just as the English Premier League won’t have any teams based outside of England, nor will the NBA have any teams based in Asia or Europe.
Let’s face it, in a two-horse race, if the currency of one organisation far outweighs the value of the other, and that same body exists without the parameters of a salary cap, then it’s only a matter of time before the best players emigrate to earn their living, provided there are no significant cultural obstacles to the individual. It’s simple mathematics.
It’s conceivable that max-talented players will eventually choose Europe ahead of the NBA, as much for marketing and lifestyle reasons as the money itself. Eventually, it might even be because the competition is better.
This whole scenario serves to further illustrate how pretentious and arrogant it is that the league winners are known as ‘World Champions’ in all of your major sports, even if the possibility exists that they are the best team in their respective game.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Ernesto says:
Not if the owners are generously paying it on their employee’s behalf as part of the dangling carrot, Jeronimo.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Kudabeen says:
If these international teams start getting TV deals to really broadcast in the US at relevant hours that would be the sign of a shift. IT will test whether people love watching good BBALL no matter the team or place or a GOOD Product.
I’ve always wanted another league to compete with the NBA from the standpoint of the NBA feeling as if they should dictate social norms because of revenue. Take a few key guys out of the league and place them in Europe style BBALL, where oddly enough you can still play physical D and score, it could be interesting.
The global markets are opening up at a steady pace. $20million Euros = how many US dollars? It could be a problem for Stern and crew…Down the line.
Like Luigi said…Someone out there will be able to give LeBron, Kobe type talent…Beckham/A-Rod type money and then some, who is saying no to 25-40million Euros a year?
250-300mil contract put you in a position to be a majority owner of an NBA franchise in the future, that’s big…
Didn’t LeBron say he wanted to be a billionaire?
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:36 pm
heavy d says:
There are taxes in Greece, but from all I’ve read on this one, there are provisions to offset taxes there and here for Childress. So in essence he is being signed for 3 years for 20M USD near tax free.
Change is coming.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Ern III says:
True, Kudabeen.
I for one will be watching Childress, Nachbar, Delfino and possbily Krstic go around for their Euro clubs next season, as well as the NBA, because I love ‘ball, and dunks and and-1’s don’t entirely gratify the soul.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Jim says:
The number you hear for European athletes is after taxes. We just say tax-free to mean they are keeping all the money.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Jeronimo says:
Thanks Ernesto and Heavy D.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
doc says:
That dont scare the NBA at all.If somebody wanted Josh he would still be here.Nobody wanted to pay his ass what he wanted.I dont think nobody will miss the random Josh Childress highlight except Hawks fans.Only if Europe could suck Willie Green and Ollie up the same way.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
jmg says:
who cares? Players will come and go…get paid Chill, fuck the NBA, Stern and those corrupt azz refs and that low ass salary cap!!
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:54 pm
D'Antonio says:
Are not American citizens supposed to pay income tax wherever they live?
That’s why you’ll see plenty of Europeans or South-American players bolting for Russia and other tax-free countries. But deals are much less attractive for American players, who will pay taxes no matter what…
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:01 pm
C Burner says:
I agree with #20..he’s still an American citizen and has to pay those taxes. It’s really about CREAM, the euro is worth more than the dollar and he wasn’t going to make nearly as much staying. Doesn’t say much for his team loyalty, but who would take less than half of that Greek money to stay? It doesn’t take a Stanford education to figure out what’s best for #1
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
hahns says:
all this doomsday talk is getting everybody way ahead of themselves. although this is pretty big news….lets face it: josh childress was NOT a star. the NBA is still THE place for basketball and anyone that is serious about competing against the best will want to play in the nba. childress went to europe for the money and thats something ppl have to keep in mind. the best competition will alawys be in the NBA.
childress was never going to become a star, an allstar, an mvp or anything like that at all. and the euroleauge will never attract anyone of that ilk to the their league bc its an inferior game there.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:05 pm
hahns says:
the euroleague will only attract role players/gunners who cant be a star in the nba. the real (american bred) superstars in the nba, will NEVER go to europe
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Jim says:
You get a credit from the IRS for taxes you pay overseas. I am sure Greece has higher taxes than the US (and state taxes only apply to income earned in that state), so he shouldn’t be paying any taxes here.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:24 pm
daQUeStIoN oR sImPlY Q says:
that is an execellent move for josh. why are everybody hating on josh saying the euroleague will only attract role players?? havent u seen that the world has caught up to the US?? havent u seen what has happened the last few years in world basketball?? its that cocky attitude that gets the us in trouble.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Frank says:
They also said a Team USA filled with NBA stars would NEVER lose another game… we know how that worked out…
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Data says:
I don’t think he has to pay taxes to greece because he is not a citizen and as for the US they cannot tax him for income he earns outside the US. Can someone clarify do we know if the 20 million is US or euros cause that makes a HUGE difference.
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Jay G says:
Most of the legitimate overseas teams pay Americans in US dollars. I think it’s about time that somebody with a notable name did this, puts more of the power back in players hands……..
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Desrat says:
I am an American, but I am neither ignorant of world politics nor arrogant. It has always been a little troubling to me that the USA has claimed the title “world Champs” in some of our sports without competing against the world. When it comes to Bbal though, it is accurate, as is the moniker when it comes to American Football. We have never, nor would we ever, claim that the victor in our little soccer league (futbol) would be world champs. In boxing it is also suspicious, as is the World Series. The time that the “World Champs” phrase was first used it was absolutely true for all of the American sports. Now it is a traditional title.
We are not as bad as Japan, we would at least give the title to a foreign athlete if they earned it (Sumo world title holders could only be of Japanese descent for a while, anyone know if this is still true?).
I think that the trend of American players going overseas is going to be limited to the second tier talent for a while. What the NBA should do is try to broker a deal with these other leagues to play a few games using a consistent set of rules. We could have several different leagues that would have some way of determining the best representatives from their conference and then they could play each other for the World title. I bet with a population pool of >6 billion people we would see some super talents emerge from all over. Probably make some people real rich too. Hows a feller get on the real rich side anyways?
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Diego says:
Childress can flat out play. Don’t like his jump shot? If is funky, no doubt, but shit, Marion has the same shot and he is a perennial allstar! Childress is near the top of the league every year in field goal percentage.
Chill is the Josh I really wanted resigned. He had A LOT of fans in Atlanta this past year. The ATL fans are going to miss the p.a. announcer’s cries of “Afro Power!” after a Chill dunk. I can’t see the Hawks making the playoffs this year. Marvin “the Duck” Williams just does not cut it!
Chill will have a ball in Europe and be a star there. He is a very smart, cool dude, does his own thing, and is looking forward to the CA-CHING!
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Phileus says:
Marbury said he wanted to play in Europe.
If/when he’s cut by the Knicks, do you see any NBA team willing to give him the spotlight that he needs?
And if/when that doesn’t happen, will he really go play in Europe?
Maybe that’s the closest thing we’ll see to a “Beckham to LA” equivalent in the NBA anytime soon: a past-his-prime but serviceable star going abroad for more money and status than his legit home league will give him anymore.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Dave says:
As others have stated, this is the definite beginning of a trend. With the value of the dollar cratering, why wouldn’t athletes jump at the chance to be paid in a stronger currency?
The rumor is that Ben Gordon and Luol Deng may be next. The Childress signing will embolden Euro teams to step up with big money in bids for players’ services.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Diego says:
P.S.: U.S. foreign income tax rules are complicated. Chill will not necessarily have to pay any U.S. income tax if this is not U.S. source income (which it is not). A lot also depends on what, if any, income tax treaty the U.S. has with Greece, and I think Chill’s residence status for the year also may come into play–but that shouldn’t be a problem as there are nice places to live in Europe.
I can’t opine on Greece income tax laws.
(There is a reason why there are a lot of expats. that go work abroad (and thus do not generlly pay U.S. income taxes).)
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Phileus says:
Desrat, about sumo (I used to live there and follow sumo a bit) the top rank has been held by Mongolian dudes for a while, so I think that rule’s gone.
How about Euro basketball? I know a lot of leagues have a limit on the amount of foreigners that can play on their squads, to protect the idea of a “domestic product.”
Until they’re confident enough in the quality of their own local players to drop these rules completely, I think the scared (or, from Euros, happy) talk about European basketball being better than American basketball has to end.
Not happening anytime soon, is it?
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Diego says:
@Luigi:
Yeah man, wait until Dubai gets the hots for hoops, then forget about it–the $ will really start to fly!!