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Couldn't he get insurance against a career ending injury?
Coming in NBA is a financial risk for Splitter. If he has a career ending injury, he will left basketball with "few" money.
What happens to his sister should make him twice about that.
When I babel-read, latest Brazilian article ( http://www.clicrbs.com.br/clicesport...tab=00003&uf=1 ), it looks like he really wants to go in NBA. Let's hope it's the truth.
Last edited by Bruno; 05-17-2008 at 01:42 AM. Reason: CBA mistake
Couldn't he get insurance against a career ending injury?
The thing is, Scola had leverage, Splitter doesn't. The first round scale will ALWAYS be there. If he comes now, that's what he gets. If he comes in 5 years, that's what he gets. If the Spurs trade him, that's what he gets. Better to come over now. The money will ALWAYS be there in Europe. He can make big dollars even in his 30s. Not the case for someone who waits to come to the NBA late.
Oh, and if a player can recover from an almost fatal motorcycle accident and still make millions in Europe, he really doesn't have much to worry about, career-wise.
Euroleague contracts, the salaries are after tax, plus they pay their housing and vehicle costs. It's hard to convince someone that the money goes farther here.
This is why the Spurs should draft players that they can use.
Well lets just hope he rolls the dice.
And that we win the championship to coax him away.
If only he knew that Batman2342398757 would be in the VIP section of Antro with him and Beno, he would be here in a heartbeat.
all of the quotes i've seen up until now point to him wanting to come over next year.
i'm not going to worry about it until he indicates than anything else is an option.
there are always risks in pro-athlets carreers but you only have one.
All rookies from Europe are proposed bigger contracts before leaving for the US.
But I don't see a young promising kid, who wants to play in NBA, staying in Europe for the money.
Specially if he was drafted by a team like the spurs.
Last edited by JPB; 05-17-2008 at 04:30 AM.
It would probably cost him his whole salary if not more.
Anyway, I would trust the Spurs to take care of the kid.
I knokw these kinds of policies have been taken out before. I'd be curious to see what the premiums are.
Two articles about that.
It seems to apply most of all to college sport and specifically to football players.
Insurance against the unthinkable
by Mary Motzko
Thursday, April 25, 2002
Late in the first quarter of Wisconsin’s spring football game, star receiver Lee Evans went to make a catch over the middle.
He made the reception, just like he has so many times before.
Yet something was unique about the way this catch ended—Evans never got up off the field.
The flanker that turned down the NFL in order to return to his Badger team for his senior season lay on the artificial turf of Camp Randall in pain, clenching his knee.
The trainers ran to him, carried him off the field—he was unable to place any weight on his knee—and put him down safely on the UW bench.
There Evans sat, head hanging down, waiting for the cart to come carry him away. As he sat there, his teammates wandered over to offer words of encouragement to their teammate, as well as condolences.
After all, this required words of sympathy. Depending on the severity of the knee injury, their teammate might have ruined his career, a career that showed so much promise.
Evans was one of the top receivers in the country last season with 1,545 yards and 75 receptions. He was a Biletnikoff finalist and a top NFL prospect.
And on this very day that he hurt his knee, April 20, the NFL draft that he made himself ineligible for was taking place. While his colleagues were chosen by teams and given the opportunity to play at the next level, Evans was getting treatment done on his knee.
Two days later, Evans underwent an MRI that revealed the junior did in fact suffer ligament damage to his left knee—an injury that would require surgery. The Wisconsin State Journal reported that a source close to the team revealed the damaged ligaments were the anterior cruciate ligament and the medial collateral ligament. However, UW’s sports information office would not confirm the report.
The prognosis for Evans’ career is still undecided, with his playing status to be determined after surgery and the corresponding rehabilitation on the knee. If required, the junior will have the opportunity to request a medical redshirt for next season if he so chooses and save his last year of eligibility for the following season. Evans, who was thought to be amongst the top draft picks in 2003, would have another year to mend his injured knee in order to wow the professional scouts.
But if the unthinkable did happen, if this injury kept the junior out of the NFL, Evans has a small bit of piece of mind—an insurance policy.
*
A growing trend in elite athletes, Evans took out an insurance policy to cover him in case he was to suffer a career-ending injury. The policy is to guarantee the elite athletes money that they would lose by missing their chance to play at the professional level.
Among those who purchased policies during their collegiate careers were Indiana’s Antwaan Randle El, Tennessee’s John Henderson and Peyton Manning, Oklahoma’s Roy Williams, Colorado’s Donnie Boyce, Wisconsin’s Chris McIntosh, Wendell Bryant, Mike Echols, Ben Johnson, Al Johnson, and Evans.
In order to obtain an insurance policy the elite athletes must meet requirements set by the policy providers—either the NCAA or a private company. Within each program the requirements are slightly different, yet the basics are the same—you must pay a premium on your policy, and you can only collect the money if you suffer a career-ending injury.
In the NCAA’s policy, called the Exceptional Student-Athlete Disability Insurance, only athletes participating in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and ice hockey are eligible. Within these sports the qualifications are more specific, needing to prove that you will in fact make it to the professional level in order to take out a policy.
For football and ice hockey, athletes must demonstrate they will be selected in the first three rounds of the upcoming NFL or NHL draft. In order to obtain a policy for basketball or baseball, athletes must be projected first round picks of the MLB, NBA or WNBA draft.
The reason for this is simple. According to a member of Wisconsin’s Assistant Athletic Director and head of the compliance staff, Tim Bald, the NCAA instates these guidelines in order to ensure that the athlete will have enough money to pay for the policy they are taking out.
The NCAA automatically makes student-athletes that qualified for the insurance policy eligible for a loan in order to pay the premiums of their policy.
According to the NCAA guidelines for the Exceptional Student-Athlete Disability Insurance, athletes must re-pay their loans in full when one of three instances occurs.
“When the student-athlete signs a professional contract; the disability benefits become available due to a covered injury or sickness; or the coverage is no longer in effect and the loan matures,” as stated in the NCAA guide.
The NCAA’s policy covers athletes for a maximum of 24 months, and it covers the athlete for all practices and games during this time period.
If an athlete should suffer a career-ending injury during this two-year span, the NCAA states that it will provide up to five installment payments with one issued every six months. Each payment is worth 20 percent of the total policy purchased.
In order to actually receive these payments, the NCAA states that, “To be eligible for benefits, it must be medically determined that the insured student-athlete will not be able to participate in his or her sporting activity, at the professional level, for at least three consecutive years from the date the total disability was determined.”
In other words, if an athlete is injured but is able to recover from his or her injury, they receive no benefits.
Three athletes that took the financial gamble on the NCAA insurance policy were Boyce, Henderson and Williams.
Boyce, in fact, fell victim to the insurance policy.
During the 1995 Big Eight basketball tournament, Colorado’s senior guard suffered a broken tibia and fibula when he was hit while trying to get a rebound. Boyce eventually mended his leg and was able to play basketball again, but his professional career was ruined. The Buffalo guard was able to play only 30 games for the Atlanta Hawks before his leg injury ended his NBA career.
According to Bald, the NCAA policy can be redeemed only if an athlete’s injury keeps them from reaching the professional level.
Because of this, Boyce would not be able to cash in his NCAA insurance policy.
*
While the NCAA’s Exceptional Student Athlete Disability Insurance staff says there are currently 70 athletes covered by their policy (a number that fluctuates with each sport’s corresponding draft), many elite athletes opt to gain a policy through a private insurance company.
The difference between the NCAA’s policy and private companies are less strict guidelines—you don’t necessarily have to be a top three or first round draft pick, and the policies are available for higher amounts.
When Michael Vick contemplated whether or not to return to Virginia Tech, the Washington Post reported that his coach offered to help him obtain a $10 million policy if he chose to play for him another year.
But not all policies are that extravagant. Each company has its own set of rules and methods to determine whether or not it will cover an athlete, and how big of a policy it will give him or her.
Evans said his policy through a private company is worth $2 million; a value he said was determined by his draft status.
“[The insurance company determined] it by projected draft status, where you are at,” said Evans. “They look at a lot of different things, some of the things that the media does, and they talked to a lot of NFL people, their draft board, things like that.”
Evans’ teammates, Al and Ben Johnson, also have insurance policies through private companies. Al Johnson was a projected third-round pick in this year’s NFL draft, had he opted to declare for it, and his cousin Ben was a projected fourth-round pick. Under the guidelines of the NCAA policy, Ben wouldn’t have qualified for the NCAA’s insurance.
Instead, Al and Ben’s offensive line coach, Jim Hueber, set up the policies for the two cousins through a private company.
“[Hueber] goes through, gets the quotes and how much you’ve got to pay,” Al Johnson said. “Because then if you don’t get hurt you’ve got to pay back a premium, that’s usually like one percent, or somewhere around that range. So for like a million dollars you pay back somewhere around 10-15 thousand.”
Because of this premium that must be repaid, not all athletes are guaranteed coverage through private companies.
According to Bald, private insurance companies will still more than likely only insure the top, elite athletes that they know are going to proceed to the next level in order to ensure getting paid for the policy.
Similar to the NCAA’s policy, private insurance companies will also only offer redemption of policies to those athletes that suffer career-ending injuries. This means there is no coverage against treatable injuries.
“The only way we get the money though is if our careers are done through a career-ending injury. So if you break your leg or something and you’re still able to come back, it doesn’t cover you,” UW’s tackle Ben Johnson said.
It is this very catch in the insurance policies that could end up keeping Evans from obtaining any money through his policy after his knee injury. Even before he suffered the torn ligaments in his left knee, the Badger flanker was well aware of what injuries were not covered in his policy.
“It’s a policy where you only get paid really if you have a career-ending injury. So you know, say you tear your ACL or something, you don’t get the money. It’s not a career-ending injury. Many people have come back from that,” Evans said April 12, prior to suffering his knee injury.
Yet, despite the rarity of athletes receiving money from their insurance policies, the elite athletes are still getting them.
According to Ben Johnson, the ability to obtain an insurance policy was something that made it more favorable for him to return to UW rather than head to the NFL.
“Why come back if there’s the possibility of getting hurt?” Ben Johnson questioned.
For the Badger tackle, his insurance policy also provides peace of mind.
“Pretty much all of the older guys, Casey Rabach, Billy Ferrario, Chris McIntosh, they all took [an insurance policy] out, and they were glad they took it out,” Ben Johnson said of his former UW teammates. “They could go out their senior year and play 100 percent and not worry about getting hurt.”
But for Evans, his feelings about his insurance policy are different. He said the option of getting an insurance policy had no effect on his decision to return to UW for his senior season. For him, the policy is more of a precautionary measure against the unthinkable and nothing that protects him from injury on the field.
“As long as you don’t go out [on the field] playing not to get hurt, you’ll be fine. As soon as you get that mindset that you’re going out there, playing not to get hurt, that’s when you get hurt. If you just go out there and play the game, things will take care of themselves,” Evans said prior to his injury.
Evans did go out to play the game of football Saturday, April 20. A true compe or, the junior’s teammates said following the game that Evans wanted to play in the spring scrimmage. The flanker played, and he made catches that made it clear what is so special about him, and then he left the game on a stretcher.
If the worst case scenario should occur after Evans’ surgery and he is unable to make it to the NFL level, he’ll be able to redeem his $2 million insurance policy. But like the junior said, many people have come back from ACL and other ligament injuries. If that’s the case, then his insurance policy will be exactly what the Badger flanker considers it to be—a precautionary measure.
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Premium Players; Insurance Policies Are Becoming Standard For Elite College Athletes
Copyright 2005 Los Angeles TimesAll Rights Reserved
Los Angeles Times
Premium Players; Insurance policies are becoming standard for elite college athletes; just ask Leinart, Bush and six others on the USC football team
Gary Klein, Times Staff Writer
Two-time defending national champion USC will surely open next season No. 1 in at least one category. With its backfield alone expected to be covered for more than $10 million, the Trojans may be the most highly insured team in college football history.
Quarterback Matt Leinart, running backs Reggie Bush and LenDale White and at least five other players either have, or are in the process of securing, policies to insure them against serious injuries. Such policies are a protective staple for elite draft-eligible college football players and, in their own way, have become as standard as helmets, shoulder pads and mouth guards.
Though the investment rarely pays off because of advances in medical science, families across the country are hustling to secure coverage that promises a payout in the unlikely event a top prospect suffers a career-ending injury before striking NFL riches.
Leinart, last year's Heisman Trophy winner, is "definitely a candidate that would be eligible for a $10 million-plus policy," said Keith Lerner, a chartered life underwriter and financial consultant based in Gainesville, Fla., who has secured insurance policies for college athletes since 1988.
Leinart, who announced last month that he was returning for his senior season of eligibility, played last season covered by a $1-million policy that his father, Bob, purchased for $20,000 through Lloyd's of London. Bob Leinart said he recently secured another policy for his son but declined to reveal the amount of coverage, the term or the premium.
The families of Bush and White, both juniors, along with those of senior tight end Dominique Byrd, junior offensive tackle Winston Justice, junior receiver Steve Smith, junior safety Darnell Bing and junior defensive lineman Manuel Wright also are expected to secure policies before the Trojans open spring practice on March 22.
"It's not out of the question to think that this team could be in the $15- to $20-million range," said Lerner, who has not secured policies for any current or former Trojans.
Insurance against career-ending injuries has been available to college athletes for decades through private underwriters such as Lloyd's of London and since 1990 through the NCAA. The NCAA contracts a private insurance company to administer its program, which launched not to compete for business but to ward off the influence of sports agents, said Juanita Sheely, the NCAA's travel and insurance coordinator.
"Some of the more unscrupulous agents would promise to obtain this type of insurance and pay for it if the athlete would agree to become a client," Sheely said.
Premiums for policies secured through private insurers can cost anywhere from about $15,000 for $1 million of coverage to about $200,000 for $10 million, Lerner said. Policies are typically for 12- to 18-month periods, but they can be for as short as one game. If a career-ending injury occurs, a tax-free, lump-sum payout is made one year from the date of the injury.
The premiums for policies secured through the NCAA are slightly cheaper. The cost of a $1-million, 18-month policy, for example, is $10,000 to $12,000. But the NCAA caps coverage for football players at $3 million. Tax-free payouts are issued every six months over the course of 30 months.
"Our program will tend to be a little more restrictive," Sheely said. "It's not a profit center."
Insurance experts say interest in policies for star college athletes ed after Jan. 3, 2003, the night Miami running back Willis McGahee suffered a major knee injury in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State.
Two weeks before that bowl championship series le game, Lerner began securing $2.5 million of coverage for McGahee through Lloyd's of London, which underwrites the vast majority of policies secured by college athletes.
McGahee's policy went into effect just before the Fiesta Bowl, and his family breathed a sigh of relief later that night at the hospital. But the 2002 Heisman finalist never collected. After undergoing reconstructive surgery, he was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the 23rd pick in the 2003 draft and signed a four-year contract that reportedly could be worth more than $15 million if he reaches all incentives.
Nevertheless, McGahee's injury pushed interest in insurance "over the edge," Lerner said.
Nearly every player who will be selected in the first three rounds of the April 23 NFL draft probably played last season with insurance to protect against a career-ending injury, according to Lerner, who wrote policies for more than a dozen players taken in the first round over the last four years.
The increasing number of basketball players who bypass college for pro basketball also has fueled the insurance trend.
"This type of business has been growing and growing and growing due to the astronomical growth in salaries," Lerner said. "It continues to grow, especially with high school basketball players going straight to the NBA. It used to be, we couldn't look at writing high school guys. Now, we can look at 10th and 11th graders."
The NCAA pays for insurance to cover all athletes at member ins utions for catastrophic injuries such as a severe head trauma or spinal cord damage, Sheely said.
The NCAA also offers Exceptional Student-Athlete Disability Insurance (ESDI). That program, underwritten by Massachusetts-based ASU International, is available to football and men's hockey players who are projected to be selected in the first three rounds of the NFL or NHL drafts. Basketball and baseball players projected as first-round picks in the NBA, WNBA or major league drafts also qualify.
Some 80 to 100 athletes each year participate in the ESDI program. About 75% to 80% are football players.
Sheely said football players can purchase from $500,000 to the maximum of $3 million in coverage. Men's basketball players are eligible for up to $4.4 million in coverage.
The NCAA offers a loan program that allows athletes to secure financing through U.S. Bank in Cincinnati for the exact amount of the policy premium, including fees and interest. The loan can be secured without a parent's signature or collateral, and repayment is not due until the athlete signs a pro contract, exhausts his eligibility or collects a payout after suffering an injury.
But the 30-month payout provision, along with other restrictions such as those regarding previous injuries, causes many athletes to seek insurance elsewhere.
Athletes, however, still must follow NCAA compliance rules if they secure insurance -- and loans to pay for it -- through private companies and banks outside the NCAA program. Though the NCAA does not require it, compliance officials at member schools usually require athletes to submit do ents for review, Sheely said.
Like the NCAA program, private underwriters must project where the player might be drafted. They often use pro scouting services to help make evaluations.
"It's not an exact science by any stretch of the imagination," Lerner said.
Players who are not projected as top-round picks can obtain insurance during the season if their performance elevates them to that status. McGahee, for example, was unable to secure insurance before his redshirt sop re season because he was not even projected as a starter. By the Fiesta Bowl, he was regarded as a top-five pick.
Bill Palmer, the father of 2002 Heisman winner Carson Palmer, said he purchased policies for his son in 2001 and 2002 from Lloyd's of London.
But Bill Palmer said the decision was not easy because improved medical science has made it possible to recover from what in the past would have been considered career-ending injuries.
"I wrestled with whether or not it was worth it," Bill Palmer said. "We did do it because he wanted to. I told him it was a loan."
Ed Chester knew the chances of suffering a true career-ending injury were small, but he still took out a $1-million policy through Lerner for less than $12,000 before his senior season at Florida in 1998.
Chester, a defensive tackle, suffered a knee injury that ended his chances for a pro career. He collected his payout roughly a year later.
Chester still lives in Gainesville, Fla., and works at a Boys and Girls Club helping area youth. Not surprisingly, he advocates purchasing insurance.
"That policy allows me to do a job that I enjoy," he said. "I think guys are dumb if they don't do it."
To help athletes and parents make educated decisions about insurance and other issues such as agents, many universities have put together advisory bodies.
Alabama's Professional Sports Counseling Panel, for example, comprises several faculty members and athletic administrators who are specialists in sports law, financial planning and career counseling.
Last season, the panel sponsored seminars for parents and guardians of players at the stadium before each home game. Topics included the advantages of staying in school, insurance, how to select an agent and the transition to professional sports.
Robert McLeod, a professor of finance who serves as chairman of the panel, said parents often need help with insurance issues.
"Most of them are at least familiar that there is a disability policy available, but they are not very knowledgeable of the terms and provisions and limitations," McLeod said. "They think if you blow out your knee and you're out for a year, you get $2 million. It doesn't work that way. We try to tell them that all the policies aren't written the same."
Bob Leinart discovered as much after his son announced last month that he would forgo entering the NFL draft and return for a final season. Initially, Bob Leinart said he would probably seek a policy in the range of $5 million.
Asked how much coverage he ultimately purchased, Bob Leinart said, "He's protected, we're happy, and that's all we're saying."
LaMar Griffin, Bush's stepfather, said his son did not have insurance last season when he was a Heisman finalist. But Griffin recently said Bush would definitely be covered next season, perhaps in the $3-million range.
The McGahee episode still resonates.
"He could be a top-five pick if he comes out next year," Griffin said. "He might do a Leinart thing, but I have to get some type of coverage on him just to be safe and not sorry."
Either you want to achive something or make some personal goals or be a rich man.
Damn even if he gets 1 milion a year. Many people dreaming about such income.
While I hope he comes to the Spurs (if asked) there's a few stupid posts in here. Only he can make that decision since none of us has had his life experience and know what other pressures/responsibilities he has.
And no the money will not always be there in Europe, while it is true that the EuroLeague teams will sign players that can't get an NBA contract, the money for those is a LOT less than for young, healthy promising players. So when all is said and done it's a gamble for him, I hope he takes it and that it works out for him (and us), but I will not criticize him if he doesn't.
Huh? If you get drafted by an NBA team, they hold your NBA rights (under certain conditions) and you can only sign with them within the NBA. That has no bearing whatsoever when it comes to other leagues, as they are not run by the NBA nor do they subject to its rules. So even if you get drafted by an NBA team, you don't have to sign: it's the players prerogative. Lets just hope Tiago chooses the NBA over the money.
I can understand Splitter choosing the financial safety and stayed in Europe.
However, I guess that Spurs have talked to him before the draft and asked him if he would go in NBA even if it means losing money comparable to Euro salaries and if Spurs have drafted him, his answered to that question was positive.
If Splitter decides to stay in Europe and if he had said to Spurs before the draft that he would sign with them in 2009, it would be quite lame.
Anyway, we will see what will happen. I will be really surprised to see Splitter staying in Europe next year.
Why don't the Spurs sell Splitter's rights to the Toros? Let the Toros sign him for 3 million and then lease him to the Spurs.
I know it wouldn't work, but someone has to start thinking out of the box. Not many people are going to give up three times the annual salary just for 'character' building.
We need this guy at all costs.
Damn it. We're gonna need him next year. If he doesn't show up, then let's hope Mahinmi comes through.
The article says he's already looking for a house in San Antonio.
Tiago said that he plans to go to San Antonio after he plays with Brazil NT
And the most important thing:
He guarantee he won't change his mind. "Play in NBA is the biggest dream of my life"Splitter garante: não há chance de mudar de idéia:
— Jogar na NBA é o que mais quero, é o sonho de toda uma vida.
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This article is from may 13, and ESPN reported that contract offer on may 15.
I hope Tau didn't make that big offer after that article.
We're getting there. When your one world government finally gets control, then things like this can happen.
Until then, Americans don't rule the world and can't tell ball players from other countries what to do.
Many Euroleague players took this risk Tiago won't be the only one. I really hope he'll take the right choice. We need him and Ian in the roster.
Only one simple solution. Buy Tau.
oh come on
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