Childress' Deal Worth $32.5-mil over 3 Years <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Who knew the NBA's path to true globalization would one day travel through Atlanta? Former Hawks swingman Josh Childress had no idea he'd be the pioneer he appears to be today, the morning after signing a three-year, $32.5- million contract with Greek powerhouse Olympiakos, rather than accepting a deal from the Hawks. Childress, 25, is the first player at this stage of his NBA career to spurn the world's most high-profile basketball stage for one of its international alternatives. Atlanta had offered him a five-year, $33 million contract. But the Hawks' slow-paced negotiating tactics and the limits of restricted free agency, combined with what Childress called Wednesday the "opportunity of a lifetime," resulted in his decision. Whether others follow remains to be seen, but Pandora's Box has clearly been opened. "I've talked with a few guys and it could become a trend," said Childress, whose net pay from Olympiakos will be $20 million. "I'm not so sure it won't. It's certainly different. We thought outside the box on this one. If players can see a fellow NBA athlete come overseas and live a normal life and adjust to the culture [they may] think, why not me? I'm also interested to see how these next weeks turn out for some of the other restricted free agents in my draft class."</div> Smart fella Childress is. He's going to love Greece by the way, Balkans is the best area in Europe for anything from living to partying. (I know I'm a homer)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lavalamp @ Jul 24 2008, 11:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Aren't the Balkans a mountain range?</div> The whole region is called the Balkan peninsula. (greece, albania, montenegro, macedonia, bulgaria, kosovo, serbia, croatia, bosnia)
