Comments on: Breaking News: Josh Childress signs with Olympiakos (Greece)

By: Diego

Diego — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:10:30 +0000

@Luigi:

Yeah man, wait until Dubai gets the hots for hoops, then forget about it–the $ will really start to fly!!

By: Phileus

Phileus — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:51:51 +0000

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?

By: Diego

Diego — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:51:15 +0000

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).)

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:48:11 +0000

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.

By: Phileus

Phileus — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:46:32 +0000

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.

By: Diego

Diego — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:43:39 +0000

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!

By: Desrat

Desrat — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:26:46 +0000

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?

By: Jay G

Jay G — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:48:41 +0000

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……..

By: Data

Data — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:34:11 +0000

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.

By: Frank

Frank — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:50:46 +0000

They also said a Team USA filled with NBA stars would NEVER lose another game… we know how that worked out…