LeBron to Greece in 2010?

[GBNF]

If LeBron does jump overseas, how big of a story is it?
Biggest story of the year?
Biggest story of the decade?
Realistically, the chances of this are somewhere between .0001 and .0002 percent, but if some crazy billionaire team owner decides to give it a go, he'd have to at least listen, no? Would lose out on the Nike deal, could increase his celebrity overseas and have ridiculous leverage coming back to the NBA.

That is, if his plan wasn't just to be the CEO of Def Jam all along. Then he'll go to the Nets.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/ian_thomsen/08/01/lebron.greece/index.html

 

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

I was reading something on this a couple days ago. There's absolutely no salary cap over there for most of the leagues. If one of those owners simply wanted to see if he could get an American audience to pay attention to his team, there's no stopping them.
And I'm not so sure Nike would take all its money off the table. That would be another market(s) -- Greece, Turkey, Italy -- Nike wants to further crack.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

$40 million a year net? That would be insane.

Hell, I could see Nike encouraging him to do it just to get him out of Cleveland.

 

[schiezainc]

$40 million a year net? That would be insane.

Hell, I could see Nike encouraging him to do it just to get him out of Cleveland.

But according to Drew Carey, Cleveland rocks!

 

[Mizzougrad96]

$40 million a year net? That would be insane.

Hell, I could see Nike encouraging him to do it just to get him out of Cleveland.

But according to Drew Carey, Cleveland rocks!

I love going to Cleveland. But I guarantee you Nike would be salivating at the possibility of putting James on a team close to the NYC market.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Not Greece. One of the better Italian or French teams, maybe, or perhaps Real Madrid.

But in all honesty, somebody like Lebron James or Kobe Bryant would be too expensive in the prime of their careers for a European team to consider unless a shoe company kicks in big money to help out.

 

[Songbird]

cleveland needs to go back to the ehlo-era orange unis. i liked those.

 

[Football_Bat]

LeBron will probably use Greece just like every other NBA star has used Mark Cuban over the years. To drive up his own value and get an even sweeter deal elsewhere. This goes on all the time; Europe is just an added wrinkle.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

LeBron will probably use Greece just like every other NBA star has used Mark Cuban over the years. To drive up his own value and get an even sweeter deal elsewhere. This goes on all the time; Europe is just an added wrinkle.

Not possible. There's a maximum salary. The Cavs will offer it two seconds after his contract expires. The contract's probably already written up.

 

[Boomer7]

LeBron will probably use Greece just like every other NBA star has used Mark Cuban over the years. To drive up his own value and get an even sweeter deal elsewhere. This goes on all the time; Europe is just an added wrinkle.

Not possible. There's a maximum salary. The Cavs will offer it two seconds after his contract expires. The contract's probably already written up.

There's a maximum salary in Greece? You sure about that?

 

[JakeandElwood]

LeBron will probably use Greece just like every other NBA star has used Mark Cuban over the years. To drive up his own value and get an even sweeter deal elsewhere. This goes on all the time; Europe is just an added wrinkle.

Not possible. There's a maximum salary. The Cavs will offer it two seconds after his contract expires. The contract's probably already written up.

Right, LeBron has always been a max player. A Greek suitor can't add NBA value unless it's through guaranteed perks like access to a private jet etc. in the contract.

 

[JakeandElwood]

LeBron will probably use Greece just like every other NBA star has used Mark Cuban over the years. To drive up his own value and get an even sweeter deal elsewhere. This goes on all the time; Europe is just an added wrinkle.

Not possible. There's a maximum salary. The Cavs will offer it two seconds after his contract expires. The contract's probably already written up.

There's a maximum salary in Greece? You sure about that?

I believe he's saying that there is a max contract in the NBA, therefore he can't use Greece to leverage more money contractually from the NBA.

 

[Boomer7]

LeBron will probably use Greece just like every other NBA star has used Mark Cuban over the years. To drive up his own value and get an even sweeter deal elsewhere. This goes on all the time; Europe is just an added wrinkle.

Not possible. There's a maximum salary. The Cavs will offer it two seconds after his contract expires. The contract's probably already written up.

There's a maximum salary in Greece? You sure about that?

I believe he's saying that there is a max contract in the NBA, therefore he can't use Greece to leverage more money contractually from the NBA.

My bad. I read it wrong.

 

[forever_town]

It'd be lede story for every paper on Earth!

I think it'd merit lede sports story at any paper that has any kind of national sports coverage at the very least. I'm sure some local-local papers would even find a way to incorporate a story or two about LeBron, even if it's just to get local reax.

 

[Batman]

It'd be lede story for every paper on Earth!

I think it'd merit lede sports story at any paper that has any kind of national sports coverage at the very least. I'm sure some local-local papers would even find a way to incorporate a story or two about LeBron, even if it's just to get local reax.

I can hear the calls now...
Angry Dip**** Parent: Why did you put the LeBron James story on the front page? Didn't you know we had a 9th-grade basketball game at Podunk High last night? LeBron James isn't buying your paper, we are! We want to read about stuff that happens here in Podunk!
Sensible Sports Editor: Ummm...LeBron is the biggest basketball star in the country, ma'am. People want to know why he's not playing in the NBA this season. You might even want to know why your child is asking you to buy him a weird-looking Greek jersey instead of a Cavaliers jersey.
ADP: These kids work hard, though. They're out there two hours a day after school, every day! They work just as hard as LeBron! They deserve coverage in OUR local paper!
SSE: ..... (flabbergasted silence)
ADP: Do I need to talk to your boss!?
SSE: (Stifling giggles) Thank you for reading, ma'am. I'll connect you right away.

 

[Norman Stansfield]

cleveland needs to go back to the ehlo-era orange unis. i liked those.

Co-signed.

They wore the white and royal blue retro unis a couple years ago and they were frickin' SWEET.

The oranges would be insane.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

If he did even entertain the thought, the guy who once said he wanted to be "a global brand" would accomplish exactly that.

And lose any possible standing he would seek among the all-time greats of the game.

Danny Ferry didn't want to be a Clipper, so he went overseas. Some would say Dominique Wilkins was still an effective scorer in the NBA, even if he lost a step, when he went overseas.

And the floodgates did not open. Brandon Jennings and Josh Childress will not change that, nor will all the money in the world.

 

[Some Guy]

If he did even entertain the thought, the guy who once said he wanted to be "a global brand" would accomplish exactly that.

And lose any possible standing he would seek among the all-time greats of the game.

Danny Ferry didn't want to be a Clipper, so he went overseas. Some would say Dominique Wilkins was still an effective scorer in the NBA, even if he lost a step, when he went overseas.

And the floodgates did not open. Brandon Jennings and Josh Childress will not change that, nor will all the money in the world.

One dynamic that might make the latest round of defections different than Ferry and 'Nique is the exquisite crappiness of the dollar next to the euro. European teams not only can pay more, they can do so in currency worth more. I know it's already keeping some of the next wave of European stars from coming to the U.S. -- I wonder how long it is until vice versa happens.

I mean Carlos Delfino, after signing with a team in Russia this months, makes substantially more than Manu Ginobili does with the Spurs. And Delfino, frankly, couldn't carry Ginobili's jock.

 

[Oz]

$40 million a year net? That would be insane.

Hell, I could see Nike encouraging him to do it just to get him out of Cleveland.

I don't think Nike would ever encourage its No. 1 basketball star to sign with Greece, where no one in the states would see him play, nor care to see him play. I know Nike wants him to be an international name, but Team USA and the NBA -- not signing with Greece -- is the way to do it.

 

[JakeandElwood]

This would make no sense for LeBron. Sure the Greeks might be able to offer a bigger base salary, but he would lose so much more than that in endorsements. As Oz said, he's much more valuable in the US than Europe.