European Basketball Luring NBA Players?

It seems the European Basketball is much more attractive then it used to be.  Stanford Alumni and former Atlanta Hawk Josh Childress is negotiating with a professional Greek basketball team “Olympiakos” for $20 million over 3 years.

Childress, according to a story first reported by Yahoo, received an offer of $20 million for three years from the Greek team Olympiakos, and he flew to Europe for a Monday chat with club officials. The deal, which apparently would cover Greek taxes and reduce some of his IRS obligations, just might be a negotiating ploy to push the lethargic Hawks into a higher gear. In any event, it’s great leverage, and quintessentially American.

Childress would be a perfect fit for European basketball as he is fundamentally sound, always plays hard, and isn’t covered from head to toe in tattoos, three cornerstones of Euro Ball and are also polar opposites of most NBA players.  As the popularity of basketball grows in Europe I wouldn’t be surprised to see and hear more players at least leveraging possible moves to Europe to get more money here at home the end result of which will be higher ticket prices, YA!