Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Russian Massmedia: Kobe Bryant to Play in Russia for $40 million

Due to financial crisis it's now not a surprise that basketball players prefer to play in Europe - EUR/USD ratio difference is almost 40% and getting same money but in euros, thus by 40% more is a very attractive prospective.

We all know about Josh Childress, Garbajosa, Arroyo coming back to Europe.

But one of the most attractive destinations for NBA players could be Russia. Again, it's not a surprise, since laundrying oil money via proffesional sports is a standrd schemes.

Russian basketball league (It's called Superleague, ha-ha)has an overwhelming amount of foreign players (that's, probably, one of the reasons why Russians failed in Beijing). While European and, soon or already, American stars play games, Russian players sit on benches.

It's also no news anymore that Carlos Delphino will play in Russia (he will be a teammate of Jorge Garbajosa and Milt Palacio - also a former NBA player). Janero Pargo after a very successful season for New Orleans Hornets left NBA for Russia as well. Bostjan Nachbar will start the upcoming season for a Russian club as well (he will join Travis Hansen).

Nenad Krstic has also left New Jersey Nets for a Russina club named Triumph.

As we can see, more and more strong players left NBA to play for Russia. there are no superstars so far, but who knows, esspecially after an interview given by Kobe Bryant to Russian journalists ( after USA Team beat Russian Team in a pre-olympic game).

In reply to a question whether he might follow his NBA colleagues and come to play in Russia Kobe said "I'm ready to play in Russia for $40 million a year". And he was absolutely serious.

So now it doesn't seem so impossible...

Monday, September 22, 2008

Boris Gorentc - story coming to its end

Boris Gorentc announced about finishing his career due to knee injuries. That's how high-flyers and dunkers usually end their careers.
You probably haven't even heard about him. Few people know that he was even signed by Chicago Bulls in 1997 and he had a chance to practice with Michael Jordan (Unfortunately, he was waived a month after being signed thus having not played a single official NBA game).

He was known for his solid skills and excellent leaping ability for a white basketball player. He participated in a Slovenian slamdunk contest versus Marco Milic in 1995. I suggest to watch this video: