I think the players have contracts, still, and are not legally able to sign overseas. The UFAs might be free to go. But what if they did go, and the owners and scab players agree to a new CBA? Why wouldn't those currently under contract be obligated by what they signed?
More kids in this country play "soccer" than any other sport. Yet the MLS is still fairly small potatoes. And any really good American player goes overseas. In other words, despite a lot of interest in America in the sport and huge reserves of money, the MLS doesn't even approach European leagues. If the current NBA players really committed to China, why couldn't the same situation apply? (I see American kids wearing Chelsea and Man United and Barcelona shirts but I have never seen anyone wearing a MLS shirt.)
So you're saying: your boss locks you out and refuses to pay you, AND you're legally bound not to get another job? I don't think so! Because it's an agreement with the owners and the union, not the scab players.
Assuming those contracts were being honored, that would make sense. I have a hard time believing that a court would agree that contracts have meaning for only one side, but the other side is free to ignore it.
In order to play professionally overseas, FIBA (the organizing body for international basketball) requires a Letter of Clearance from the player's national organizing body. In the case of players from the United States, that's USA Basketball. The Letter of Clearance certifies that the player is free to sign a contract -- i.e., he has no other contractual obligations that would get in the way. An NBA contract is such a contractual obligation. Lockout or not, it's still an existing contract. So on the surface, an NBA player who's under contract would not be allowed to sign in any FIBA league.
That's because fans think (know) they're better than the competitors. It's a problem for the WNBA: lots of (male) potential fans see women that are their size or smaller, and they THINK they could play with them (even if there's no chance in hell)... part of that is being used to seeing NBA players play, of course. I think that fans would adapt quickly. I doubt we'll ever find out. Ed O.
Well, if the Chinese government decided to set up a rogue league for NBA players, why would they care about FIBA approval? I'm not saying they'd do it, but I don't see anything stopping them. It's not like they would be signing these players to contracts to play on the Chinese national team. It would be a separate league made up of just current NBA players. Why would they do it? To expose their people to and create interest in the best basketball players in the world so they could improve the quality of their local athletes. The Chinese government spent millions to analyze the diving technique and form of Greg Louganis so their divers could copy and improve upon his technique. China now has the top divers in the word and regularly dominates at the Olympics and other international competitions. And, diving isn't even a big money sport. Getting the Chinese people exposed to and excited about basketball played at the highest level can only help improve the quality of Chinese basketball in the future. BNM
the players might be able to sue for breach of contract, but the players risk losing their big $$$ guarantees if they breach the contracts. if the players go overseas, they're not NBA players anymore, so how can they have a union?
Why not China? The chinese are fucked in the head. If you ever deal with them, you know they will never get this done.
This is similar to the manned Chinese manned space program. First they bought Soyuz from Russia. Then they made major changes, although the spacecraft remained similar. Now they have the glory of their own program. Some things, a nation does for propaganda, just because it wants to be a leader. If China offered NBA players more than they make here or in Europe, almost all players would jump. With lower attendance and TV ratings, the NBA would financially fold and the remaining players would jump to China, since the alternative would be D-League type money. (The D-League would have already financially folded before the NBA had, anyway.) Why would China do all this only temporarily, until the new contract got worked out? It would be permanent. If they went to all the trouble, they would want something lasting. This would create a strain in the Republican Party. Some would thunder patriotically, "Who lost the NBA?" and want subsidies here to keep them. Others would hew to the small government theory that they selectively use to cut only quality of life services. China might steal our other sports, too. Good thought experiment, Rasta. But now for some reality about the next 30 years. As we go more and more into debt to China, money can't flow in just one direction. To keep a semblance of balance of trade, China will increasingly buy up America--businesses and land. Eventually they'll get to sports leagues, but that is low priority compared to brain draining technological employees, which the US will protect to the end. When China gets to them, you'll know it's all over. I give it 20 years till everyone knows it's all dying, then another 20-30 years of futile struggle. People will look back at this thread and say, We were joking but it came true!
