Is overseas the better option for ball players?

By Jameel Murray

Recently there has been a sudden influx of professional basketball players opting to take their game to many leagues overseas. The dream of playing in the NBA and basking million dollar contracts are becoming a bit watered down. Some current players in the NBA are making less than $800,000 annually, well below the $4.9 million dollar average. Although there are talented players that enter the league every year, the NBA dream is somewhat short-lived with an average career span of 5years. During that 5-years span, players make an adequate amount of money but also have to pay off multiple expenses such as personal training, taxes, high auto insurance rates, and other significant expenses such as food and housing. After analyzing this data, one has to question whether the NBA offers the world’s best talent the dream and fortunes of a lifetime. There are thousands of talented players who may never experience the NBA dream but may be provided with a potentially better option; overseas basketball.
Although making the transition from the United States to a country thousands of miles across the globe may be quite extreme to pursue a career, the opportunity to build wealth is extremely blatant. One of the main differences between NBA basketball and overseas basketball lies in the fame that each league creates for its players. The NBA has many of the word’s most well known players while overseas basketball may be occupied with unknown talent. However, many international teams provide players with a car, a house, a chef, and substantial contracts that are paid in Euros without a salary cap. These international contracts offer players an array of wealth while cutting back on some of the expenses that an NBA player has to come to terms with. If a player can earn an annual contract worth 800,000 Euros, then that player would be making more than $ 1 million in the United States. Many notable NBA players such as Josh Childress and Linas Klieza have made the jump to international careers.

http://www.basketball-overseas.com/for_players/best_overseas_basketball_countries.htm

http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4389053