It’s about talent and power |
German basketball boss demands coal from the NBA
Last week, US broadcaster ESPN published its ranking of the 100 best NBA players. A classic that is also hotly debated among the stars themselves. And this year there was a lot of material for it!
Because the list had it all!
With Giannis Antetokounmpo (27, Greece), Nikola Jokic (27, Serbia) and Luca Doncic (23, Slovenia), three Europeans took the top spots in the ranking! Fourth place went to Joel Embiid (28), a native of Cameroon who now has French citizenship. Stephen Curry (34), the first American, came in 5th…
The ranking makes it clear: In the absolute top of the sport, Europe has long been on an equal footing with basketball’s mother country, the USA. With Antetokounmpo and Jokic, the last NBA MVPs even came from Europe. The best basketball league in the world benefits from Europe and its talents – this is hardly the case the other way around!
Marco Baldi (60), boss of the German basketball champion Alba Berlin, is now demanding coal from the billion-league!
Baldi in the “Berliner Morgenpost”: “The NBA generates more than eight billion euros in sales per season. But just for the training of all these players who come from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, there is no money? They are delivered free of charge. It’s a condition I’d like to take care of.”
As an example, Baldi cites Moritz Wagner (25), who trained with Alba from the age of seven before moving to an American college and then to the NBA with the Orlando Magic.
Six awesome tricks in a row Brazil boys with an incredible move
27.09.2022
“We don’t get anything for it,” says Baldi in the “Berliner Morgenpost”, “but suppose Orlando would now move him to his development team in the G-League because they don’t need him right now – which hopefully will never happen. If he wanted to move from there to Alba Berlin, we would have to pay a fixed transfer fee.”
According to Baldi, this regulation was coordinated with the world basketball association Fiba and the NBA: “So it’s not about any kind of logic and certainly not about sustainability. It’s about power.”
In view of the numerous talents outside the USA, Baldi would therefore like to have this passage changed, also because the other leagues have caught up in terms of quality and attractiveness: “I believe that the NBA must also have an interest in continuing to deliver players of this quality will.”
