Phoenix Suns 2002
Basketball is one of those sports that is played worldwide. It often amazes people to hear the different countries that Americans will go to as a professional basketball player. The sport is widely enjoyed around the world and offers a lot of opportunities to players of all skill levels.
Right now, most people would consider the NBA the highest level of basketball competition in the world. Joe spent one season in the NBA with two different teams (the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns) and participated in a few summer leagues and vet camps. Most players make it their goal to play in the NBA, so the competition is tough. Depending on who the player is, you may sign an unguaranteed contract, which means that you will be on the team and paid for as long as they want you. Others may sign guaranteed contracts for a single season or multiple season. You may still be traded or let go, but you are guaranteed the salary in the agreed upon contract. The schedule for the NBA is tough though. They play 82 games in the regular season, which typically lasts from the end of October until May (if you are in playoffs and eventually in the finals, you will play until late June). Because of the high number of games, there is a lot of time spent traveling and on the road. With a sport like football, you only play once a week, so the NFL players aren’t away from home as often. The trade-off of a high salary, nice accommodations and living comfortably in the U.S. usually make the travel schedule worth it for most players though.
Kansas City Knights (ABA), 2004
For those players who are not signed to an NBA contract, there are a few options. The players can stay in the U.S. for the season and play in one of several minor leagues in the hopes of being called up to the NBA sometime throughout the season due to a team making a change (either because of injury and a player not fitting well with them team or not performing at the expected level). There are a lot of minor leagues in the U.S., some better than others. The minor league scene is one that is pretty unstable for the most part, aside from the D-League which is the NBA’s official minor league. Joe played in three of the different minor leagues (ABA, CBA and USBL) and they all have their different strengths and weaknesses. In the D-League you are put into a draft, so you don’t get to decide what team and coach you want to play for. All of the minor league salaries are pretty small compared to the NBA and many overseas countries. You also may have to live in a hotel room or a shared apartment that the team provides. The season is usually shorter (around the middle of November until March/April) or runs in the off-season and there is typically shorter distances of travel because many of the leagues organize their brackets regionally.
The other option for players is to take their game internationally. There are teams located worldwide, on all continents (except Antarctica) and in a majority of the countries. Many countries have multiple leagues as well, such as Italy where there are 4 leagues. Although there are numerous leagues, not all leagues are open to Americans. In Italy for example, only the top 2 divisions are open to Americans and even then there is a limit to how many non-European players are allowed on the team (different rules for the first and second division). Many American players have international passports because of their family ancestry (maybe a grandparent was born in another country, for example), which make sit much easier for them to get jobs because teams often want to make the best use of their 2 non-European spots. Unfortunately, some players are now cheating and getting passports from European countries that will give them out illegally for a price. This them gets them jobs easier, but also takes away jobs from other Americans who may be more suited for the job but do not have a passport.
Wloclawek, Poland (1st Division) 2005
** Since our experience is playing in Europe, my information on internal play will be based on that from here on out.
In Europe, the season runs from mid-August until May or June. The season usually consists of many less games than in the NBA. For example, this year, Joe is only playing 30 regular season games. The games played within the country’s league are usually played once a week (sometimes you may play twice a week when they take off for Christmas or Easter). Teams may also play in a European league against teams from other countries as well. The best known of these leagues is Euroleague, which many people believe to be the best basketball league after the NBA. The European league games are also played once a week, so a player may have two games a week. European leagues involve a lot of travel with going to different countries, especially if you are a team from Spain playing a team in Russia. So in order to prolong a career, some players prefer not to play twice a week.
Teramo, Italy (1st Division), 2005-2006
After the NBA, most players prefer playing somewhere in Europe. Many prefer western Europe simply because the cultural differences are less noticeable. As far as the strength of the leagues, the countries that tend to have the reputation for the best places to play are (here I am just going by the countries that have teams in Euroleague showing the number of teams in parantheses. Usually the stronger the country, the more teams in Euroleague): Spain (5), Italy (3), Russia (2), Greece (2), France (1), Germany (1), Poland (1), Croatia (1), Turkey (2), Lithuania (2), Serbia (1), Israel (1), and Belgium (1). Traditionally, Spain and Italy have been two of the strongest countries as afar as competition for playing overseas. Both of these countries have second divisions that often offer better competition than the first divisions of other countries. They are also countries that tend to be more comfortable for Americans to go to due to language and culture, so may have more of a draw due to those factors as well. They also have a better reputation of paying players (something I will discuss more when I post about the contract and salary).
So there are really a lot of options for those looking to play professional basketball, but as with anything you need to decide if the reward is worth the cost. And the reward in professional basketball is the contract, which I will discuss more in the next post.
This is great information, Erin! These are definitely the types of questions that basketball families get asked all of the time. I have to respectfully disagree with your characterization of American players getting foreign passports as “cheating.” Some countries choose to naturalize American citizens (basketball players), usually so that they can play for the national team. There isn’t necessarily a pay-off involved, as you have suggested. I understand that some may not agree with the practice but as long as the player goes through the proper steps, it certainly isn’t illegal.
Alexandra,
The cases I have heard about have always involved money (either paid by the player or someone in the involved country), so thank you for the clarification that it can happen in a legal way as well.