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Basketball - NBA: LeBron James offer in Greece is $100 Millions for 2 years in 2010
Actu NBA : LeBron James considéra jouer en Europe dans L'annee 2009 pour $50 millions par an
Par Biz Le 6.08.2008
Rangé dans: Actu NBA | LeBron James
Une personne proche de LeBron James a déclaré mardi qu'il envisagerait fortement de jouer outre-atlantique si on lui offrait un salaire "d'environ $50 millions par an."
L'équipe russe du CSKA Moscou et l'équipe grecque de l'Olympiacos, qui a récemment donné à Josh Childress un contrat approchant les $30 millions sur trois ans, sont déjà entrés en contact avec James, selon la personne proche Lebron.
La personne a ajouté, cependant, qu'aucune discussion au niveau d'un salaire ou d'un contrat n'a eu lieu.
***************************************
Tuesday: August 6, 11:22 AM ET
Source: LeBron would consider European offer of $50M a year or more
Jay-Z and the New Jersey Nets? Mike D'Antoni and the New York Knicks?
Heck, the Cleveland Cavaliers' strongest competition for LeBron James' long-term services could be the deep-pocketed new kid on the block -- Europe.
A person close to James said Tuesday that the Cavaliers' superstar would strongly consider playing overseas if he was offered a salary of "around $50 million a year."
James' current contract expires after the 2010-2011 season, but he can opt out after the 2009-2010 season, and while several NBA teams are working to create salary cap space for his impending free agency, none could offer a contract beginning at even $20 million a year.
The Russian team CSKA Moscow and the Greek team Olympiacos, which recently gave Josh Childress a contract approaching $30 million over three years, have already contacted James, according to the person close to him. The person added, however, that no monetary or contractual discussions have taken place.
While $50 million a year seems outlandish, it is within the realm of possibility, considering the reported $250 million contract David Beckham received two years ago to join Major League Soccer, the $33 million Michael Jordan was paid by the Chicago Bulls for the 1997-98 season, the strength of the euro in comparison to the dollar, and the fact that European clubs are not bound by a salary cap.
While several NBA players have left the league this summer for more lucrative contracts in Europe, no stars have done so -- or even considered it. Joel Litvin, the NBA's president of league and basketball operations, said the league is not concerned about this developing trend.
"I don't want to say it's much ado about nothing, but we think it's overblown a bit," Litvin said. "It's not something we're losing sleep over. "
But losing a player of James' magnitude would be nothing short of a nightmare for the NBA.
"For the most part, the league considers the players to be fungible products," an official from the National Basketball Players Association said. "But LeBron is one of the three or four players the league would definitely hate to lose. If a team lost him or Kobe [Bryant] to Europe, it would lose its mind. It would be devastating."
But both Litvin and the NBPA official said they don't foresee anything -- even the loss of a superstar -- leading the NBA to eliminate the salary cap and thereby compete financially with the European teams.
"It would be disappointing to lose one of our star players, but I have no concern at all about the best players playing anywhere but in the NBA for a long time to come," Litvin said. "I'd be surprised if one of our top players chose to go to Europe but if it did happen, there are many players who would step up and fill the void."
The source close to James said LeBron would play in Europe only for a year or two before returning to the NBA. He said James would view it as an opportunity to popularize the game and himself overseas. He added that James would not consider himself to be playing in the "minor leagues."
"Not at all," the person said. "He believes those guys are pros also."
The entire scenario falls in line with James' stated goals of becoming a billionaire and "global icon." But the representative from the players' association will have to see James in a European uniform before he believes it.
"First of all, we don't know that there's going to be a $50 million offer," the official said. "And secondly, he wouldn't be able to accomplish over there the things that he wants to do over here, which are to win NBA championships, MVP awards, etc."
But he could become filthy rich and a global icon.
Patrick McManamon: Don't curse gods, LeBron to Greece rumor can't happen till 2010
Patrick McManamon: Don't curse gods, LeBron to Greece rumor can't happen till 2010
SourceBeacon Journal sports columnist
POSTED: 02:05 p.m. EDT, Aug 06, 2008
My friend Pam the Attorney heard Wednesday that LeBron James might consider a boffo financial offer to play for a professional team in Greece.
''Good,'' Pam the Attorney said. ''He thinks he's a Greek god anyway.''
Let two things be known here: Pam the Attorney sees that gigantic portrait of James quite often during the week, and she spoke after being stiffed for lunch (not by James, mind you).
That being said, a lot of folks who follow the Cavs might feel they got stiffed if the latest news/speculation/innuendo/word on the street about James and this Greek team comes to fruition.
Two years, $100 million.
That's supposedly what Olympiakos, a team in Athens, is talking about offering James if he becomes an NBA free agent.
If he's offered that kind of money, one would guess he would just take it and make himself into that global icon that he has been talking about being. Head off for the Greek sunshine, islands and olives.
No NBA team — not even Jay Z and the New Jersey Nets — can come close to offering our LeBron that amount of money.
Some might scoff that LeBron would leave the N-B-of-A, but there are others who wonder if there might be some fire underneath this Grecian Smoke — which is not, by the way, the same as Grecian Formula, a hair-color product for men invented in the time of Heraclius.
European sports are growing.
They are competitive — just look at the foreign influence on the NBA and the results of the Olympics.
The owners have some deep pockets with no salary cap.
And because of the value of the dollar, they can spend money and get a bargain.
An online check Wednesday — through a Greek site of course (have to make this accurate) — revealed that $100 million in U.S. dollars adds up to a meager $64.57 million euros.
That's an instant return of one-third — and wouldn't we all take that kind of percentage in our IRAs that don't exist anymore because of the way the dollar has been devalued?
This story first was reported on SI.com, by a gentleman named Ian Thomsen. He worked for years at the International Herald Tribune and has as many ''ins'' with the European sports community as anyone in the Northern Hemisphere.
Thomsen pointed out that when Olympiakos signed Josh Childress this offseason, The former sixth man for the Atlanta Hawks got $20 million plus all his living and housing expenses paid.
One would guess that if James is involved a remodeled Parthenon might actually come into play.
ESPN.com furthered the story Wednesday by saying Olympiakos already has been in contact with James — no money talks yet — and James has let folks know that he might just take the gyros and run.
The NBA does not seem overly concerned about losing players to Europe. It thinks that it has the best basketball product in the world, and that if James wants to really make a Jordanesque name for himself, the NBA is the place to do it.
It's not a bad point, except that $50 million might make other points.
This is the point where we call a halt.
Before we all start to take our Cavs T-shirts and put them in the stack with the Kardiac Kids and ''It's Tribe Time'' shirts, let's take a step back.
Last look at the calendar showed it's 2008.
This free-agent thing with LeBron won't happen until 2010.
Ten minus eight does equal two.
Which means this is two years away. If it happens at all.
Might it not be more important to perhaps decide some important things prior, such as our next president?
Two years is a lot of time. Brett Favre has retired, unretired, retired and unretired in two weeks. What in the world can happen in two years?
A sperm whale's gestation period is 18 months, max. A human could have two babies in two years. A horse gets two-thirds of the way to the Kentucky Derby.
In two years, folks could have gotten married and divorced, great works of literature could have been written and the state Route 8 bridge project might actually be finished.
The Browns might have won a playoff game, and the NFL might have made several (not one) instant-replay decisions.
Gen. McClellan sat for almost two years outside Richmond, Va. Shays Rebellion was quelled in less than two years. And in two years, there might not be a Starbucks on every corner or a Wal-Mart in every small town telling us how to vote.
Heck, in two years Ohio State could have added Alabama and Mississippi State to the list of SEC teams that it lost to in bowl games.
The Cavs are going to offer LeBron James the biggest contract that they possibly can.
So he'll make gobs of money here, or he might be able to make more gobs of money there. The choice will be his.
The money might be there in Athens now, but so is smog and overcrowding and a lot of stuff, good and bad.
No matter, it's two years from possibly happening. Writing James off at this point is so woe-is-me, we'll-never-win Cleveland sports.
Let's just take a deep breath and appreciate the fact that, right now, one Greek god wears the hometown colors.
My friend Pam the Attorney heard Wednesday that LeBron James might consider a boffo financial offer to play for a professional team in Greece.
''Good,'' Pam the Attorney said. ''He thinks he's a Greek god anyway.''
Let two things be known here: Pam the Attorney sees that gigantic portrait of James quite often during the week, and she spoke after being stiffed for lunch (not by James, mind you).
That being said, a lot of folks who follow the Cavs might feel they got stiffed if the latest news/speculation/innuendo/word on the street about James and this Greek team comes to fruition.
Two years, $100 million.
That's supposedly what Olympiakos, a team in Athens, is talking about offering James if he becomes an NBA free agent.
If he's offered that kind of money, one would guess he would just take it and make himself into that global icon that he has been talking about being. Head off for the Greek sunshine, islands and olives.
No NBA team — not even Jay Z and the New Jersey Nets — can come close to offering our LeBron that amount of money.
Some might scoff that LeBron would leave the N-B-of-A, but there are others who wonder if there might be some fire underneath this Grecian Smoke — which is not, by the way, the same as Grecian Formula, a hair-color product for men invented in the time of Heraclius.
European sports are growing.
They are competitive — just look at the foreign influence on the NBA and the results of the Olympics.
The owners have some deep pockets with no salary cap.
And because of the value of the dollar, they can spend money and get a bargain.
An online check Wednesday — through a Greek site of course (have to make this accurate) — revealed that $100 million in U.S. dollars adds up to a meager $64.57 million euros.
That's an instant return of one-third — and wouldn't we all take that kind of percentage in our IRAs that don't exist anymore because of the way the dollar has been devalued?
This story first was reported on SI.com, by a gentleman named Ian Thomsen. He worked for years at the International Herald Tribune and has as many ''ins'' with the European sports community as anyone in the Northern Hemisphere.
Thomsen pointed out that when Olympiakos signed Josh Childress this offseason, The former sixth man for the Atlanta Hawks got $20 million plus all his living and housing expenses paid.
One would guess that if James is involved a remodeled Parthenon might actually come into play.
ESPN.com furthered the story Wednesday by saying Olympiakos already has been in contact with James — no money talks yet — and James has let folks know that he might just take the gyros and run.
The NBA does not seem overly concerned about losing players to Europe. It thinks that it has the best basketball product in the world, and that if James wants to really make a Jordanesque name for himself, the NBA is the place to do it.
It's not a bad point, except that $50 million might make other points.
This is the point where we call a halt.
Before we all start to take our Cavs T-shirts and put them in the stack with the Kardiac Kids and ''It's Tribe Time'' shirts, let's take a step back.
Last look at the calendar showed it's 2008.
This free-agent thing with LeBron won't happen until 2010.
Ten minus eight does equal two.
Which means this is two years away. If it happens at all.
Might it not be more important to perhaps decide some important things prior, such as our next president?
Two years is a lot of time. Brett Favre has retired, unretired, retired and unretired in two weeks. What in the world can happen in two years?
A sperm whale's gestation period is 18 months, max. A human could have two babies in two years. A horse gets two-thirds of the way to the Kentucky Derby.
In two years, folks could have gotten married and divorced, great works of literature could have been written and the state Route 8 bridge project might actually be finished.
The Browns might have won a playoff game, and the NFL might have made several (not one) instant-replay decisions.
Gen. McClellan sat for almost two years outside Richmond, Va. Shays Rebellion was quelled in less than two years. And in two years, there might not be a Starbucks on every corner or a Wal-Mart in every small town telling us how to vote.
Heck, in two years Ohio State could have added Alabama and Mississippi State to the list of SEC teams that it lost to in bowl games.
The Cavs are going to offer LeBron James the biggest contract that they possibly can.
So he'll make gobs of money here, or he might be able to make more gobs of money there. The choice will be his.
The money might be there in Athens now, but so is smog and overcrowding and a lot of stuff, good and bad.
No matter, it's two years from possibly happening. Writing James off at this point is so woe-is-me, we'll-never-win Cleveland sports.
Let's just take a deep breath and appreciate the fact that, right now, one Greek god wears the hometown colors.
LeBron James: The next Warren Buffett or Bill Gates? becoming the first billionaire athlete
Whether LeBron James can ever become the next Michael Jordan, he's aiming for even greater off-court success: becoming the first billionaire athlete.
June 15 2007: 11:37 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Forget whether LeBron James is the next Michael Jordan. The more interesting question is whether he can be the next Warren Buffett.
James, the 22-year old star of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has been hyped as the game's next superstar since he was in high school. And his own ambitions are no less grand - he has stated a desire to be the first billionaire athlete.
James was drafted right out of high school, a $90 million shoe contract with Nike (Charts, Fortune 500) in tow. He has since picked up endorsement contracts with Coca-Cola's (Charts, Fortune 500) Sprite and Powerade has even appeared in a spot for the rollout of Vista, the new operating system for Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500).
Last summer he signed an $80 million contract extension with the Cavaliers.
This year he almost single handedly took his team to the NBA Finals, and while his play, and that of his team, left many fans unimpressed (at least those few who were watching anyway), the playoffs have still been a notable accomplishment for a player both younger, and with a much weaker supporting cast, than Jordan had during his championship years.
Even with Cleveland getting swept in the NBA Finals, it wouldn't be surprising to see his endorsements pick up.
Still, James' NBA paychecks and his sponsors' largess aren't going to be enough to get him to the billion-dollar threshold. But despite not attending a day of college, James is good enough at math to understand that. That's why he's taking a different approach to wealth management.
Last year he sought out Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha and the world's second richest man.
James traveled to Omaha in September, just before the start of the NBA season, to have lunch with Buffett and his daughter. Buffett came to Cleveland in March to sit courtside as a guest of James at a Cavaliers-Nuggets game.
James also appeared in a video shown to Berkshire Hathaway (Charts) shareholders in May, with the two of them playing a mock one-on-one basketball game (with Buffett winning).
Exactly what the two have talked about, no one is saying.
"Mr. Buffett is a huge fan of LeBron. He said LeBron is as classy a human being as he is a basketball player; very smart and with a great sense of humor," said Buffett's assistant Debbie Bosanek when asked about the relationship the two have developed.
Maverick Carter, James' manager and partner in LRMR Marketing, the sports marketing firm James and he started, also is guarded. He simply said that James has appreciated what he learned about business from Buffett.
Carter also said James' goal of being a billionaire has been taken somewhat out of context. What he wants is his total business interests to top the $1 billion mark, but that would include the value of Nike's line of LeBron-branded shoes and apparel, or other products associated with his name, even if the business is owned by someone else.
Beyond that qualification, Carter said James is very interested in putting his money to work for him, rather than just look to income from pay and endorsements to build his net worth.
In March he announced that he had bought a stake of undisclosed size in privately-held, high-end bicycle maker Cannondale. Carter says James also has lower profile investments in a number of business start ups and in real estate.
"It's impossible to get to a billion dollars by endorsement deals," said Carter. "The biggest deals only take you so far. It's how you make money when you're asleep that's going to get you there."
I'm sure everyone who talks about sports being too much about money can point to James' billion-dollar target as Exhibit A of that concern. But frankly that's more about the critics' envy than anything else.
No one objects when NBA owners use their investments to become rich at a young age, as Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban or Microsoft co-founder and Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen did. And I doubt there was much criticism when Ty Cobb used a savvy investment in Coke early in the 20th century to become very rich after his playing days.
The fact that James is looking to follow the same course to success while he works to make money for his team, his league and his sponsors shows that he's a pretty smart 22-year old, someone to be admired, not scorned.
Even if he's got a long way to go to be either the next Jordan or the next Buffett, don't bet against him reaching either distinction before he's done
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Patrick McManamon: Don't curse gods, LeBron to Greece rumor can't happen till 2010
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