The Batman
02-01-2011, 11:30 PM
Dirk Nowitzki (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=609) is serious about wanting to play in Europe next season if a work stoppage shuts down the NBA, but the Mavericks' star forward acknowledges that the prospect of actually doing so is a long shot.
Reiterating comments he recently made to German newspaper Bild, Nowitzki told ESPNDallas.com that he will explore every avenue to play abroad in 2011-12 in the event of a lockout.
"Before I sit around for a year," Nowitzki said, "I would want to play somewhere."
Nowitzki, though, was also quick to add that he's well aware that any NBA player under contract would face significant legal hurdles to play abroad, even if NBA owners impose a lockout starting July 1 as widely feared. The prevalent assumption throughout the league is that NBA players interested in playing in other countries during a work stoppage will have to go to court to win the right to do so -- even when they're not getting paid during a lockout -- because the sport's international governing body (FIBA) would otherwise not allow its teams to sign players contracted to NBA clubs without a letter of clearance from USA Basketball or the player's respective national federation.
Utah Jazz (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=uth) forward Andrei Kirilenko (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=434) and Milwaukee Bucks (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=mil) guard Brandon Jennings (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3997) (who played for a season in Italy before starting his NBA career) are among the prominent players who have voiced the same desire as Nowitzki to play in Europe next season if the NBA and the NBA Players Association can't reach agreement on a new labor pact this summer. The players' union is expected to make the case in court that NBA contracts aren't valid during a work stoppage, thus creating the requisite freedom for its constituents to play wherever they wish.
But one source close to the situation told ESPN.com that the NBA intends to exert as much pressure on FIBA as it can muster to prevent a flood of NBA players to Europe, since its bargaining position in labor talks would be severely weakened if NBA players have the ability to earn money elsewhere during a work stoppage.
"It's all a lot of speculation at this point," Nowitzki said after Monday's win over Washington. "I don't even know if it's going to be legally possible [to play elsewhere during a lockout]. I have a contract here. I didn't have a contract when I played over there during the last lockout."
NBA players who become free agents July 1 are not subject to the same restrictions regarding playing overseas during a lockout.
The first work stoppage in NBA history that wiped out regular-season games coincided with Nowitzki's rookie season in 1998-99. The league ultimately staged a 50-game season after finally striking a new labor agreement with its players in January, but Nowitzki kept playing with his German club team in his hometown of Wurzburg in Bavaria after being selected with the ninth pick in the 1998 draft because the lockout prevented the Mavericks from actually signing him.
Bild reported that three teams in Germany are already angling to sign him: Alba Berlin, Bayern Munich and Brose Baskets Bamburg. But Nowitzki, noting that traveling overseas has always been one of his favorite offseason hobbies, told ESPNDallas.com that he would not limit himself to considering offers in his native country if NBA players ultimately did secure the legal freedom to play elsewhere during a workout stoppage.
Greece, for example, is a frequent vacation spot for Nowitzki's family and would thus hold strong appeal given that its league has always been one of Europe's strongest.
But Nowitzki ultimately downplayed the whole concept, saying he's still hopeful that a deal can be struck to keep the NBA in business next season and insisting that the only reason he's thought about playing abroad is because he's fearful of the rust that would accumulate if he lost an entire season at age 33.
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=6079828
Reiterating comments he recently made to German newspaper Bild, Nowitzki told ESPNDallas.com that he will explore every avenue to play abroad in 2011-12 in the event of a lockout.
"Before I sit around for a year," Nowitzki said, "I would want to play somewhere."
Nowitzki, though, was also quick to add that he's well aware that any NBA player under contract would face significant legal hurdles to play abroad, even if NBA owners impose a lockout starting July 1 as widely feared. The prevalent assumption throughout the league is that NBA players interested in playing in other countries during a work stoppage will have to go to court to win the right to do so -- even when they're not getting paid during a lockout -- because the sport's international governing body (FIBA) would otherwise not allow its teams to sign players contracted to NBA clubs without a letter of clearance from USA Basketball or the player's respective national federation.
Utah Jazz (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=uth) forward Andrei Kirilenko (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=434) and Milwaukee Bucks (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=mil) guard Brandon Jennings (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3997) (who played for a season in Italy before starting his NBA career) are among the prominent players who have voiced the same desire as Nowitzki to play in Europe next season if the NBA and the NBA Players Association can't reach agreement on a new labor pact this summer. The players' union is expected to make the case in court that NBA contracts aren't valid during a work stoppage, thus creating the requisite freedom for its constituents to play wherever they wish.
But one source close to the situation told ESPN.com that the NBA intends to exert as much pressure on FIBA as it can muster to prevent a flood of NBA players to Europe, since its bargaining position in labor talks would be severely weakened if NBA players have the ability to earn money elsewhere during a work stoppage.
"It's all a lot of speculation at this point," Nowitzki said after Monday's win over Washington. "I don't even know if it's going to be legally possible [to play elsewhere during a lockout]. I have a contract here. I didn't have a contract when I played over there during the last lockout."
NBA players who become free agents July 1 are not subject to the same restrictions regarding playing overseas during a lockout.
The first work stoppage in NBA history that wiped out regular-season games coincided with Nowitzki's rookie season in 1998-99. The league ultimately staged a 50-game season after finally striking a new labor agreement with its players in January, but Nowitzki kept playing with his German club team in his hometown of Wurzburg in Bavaria after being selected with the ninth pick in the 1998 draft because the lockout prevented the Mavericks from actually signing him.
Bild reported that three teams in Germany are already angling to sign him: Alba Berlin, Bayern Munich and Brose Baskets Bamburg. But Nowitzki, noting that traveling overseas has always been one of his favorite offseason hobbies, told ESPNDallas.com that he would not limit himself to considering offers in his native country if NBA players ultimately did secure the legal freedom to play elsewhere during a workout stoppage.
Greece, for example, is a frequent vacation spot for Nowitzki's family and would thus hold strong appeal given that its league has always been one of Europe's strongest.
But Nowitzki ultimately downplayed the whole concept, saying he's still hopeful that a deal can be struck to keep the NBA in business next season and insisting that the only reason he's thought about playing abroad is because he's fearful of the rust that would accumulate if he lost an entire season at age 33.
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=6079828