Parker hurt in Europe, question about players in the off-season

[westkoast]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4358844

"The Spurs' star hurt his right thigh and ankle in a collision with Stjepan Stazic in a game Friday. Parker issued a statement saying he was hit in his thigh and turned his ankle."

Parker tweaking his ankle isn't really thread worthy by itself this early in the summer.  Though it does bring up the issue that the Rockets have had with Yao Ming and I am sure others have had with foreign players.  How do you stop them from playing?  Can you really stop them without specifically writing it into their contract?  Do you WANT to do that?  Seems like guys like Manu and Ming have really hurt their own squads playing in the off-season.  Seeing as the NBA career pays the bills do you think there will be a shift in how this is handled?

[SPURSX3]

He better hope his comments about being younger then Manu don't come back to haunt him.....

[Lurker]

And I was hoping this would happen to Gasol.   j/k.


This is the second time Parker has been hurt playing for the national team.  And, yes, it is a worry.  Cuban has been the most vocal about it from an owner's perspective but the NBA can't stop the players from playing on their national teams.  The best the teams can do is discourage the players and take out insurance policies.


Are we rerady to go back to no NBA players on the American team?

[westkoast]

And I was hoping this would happen to Gasol.   j/k.


This is the second time Parker has been hurt playing for the national team.  And, yes, it is a worry.  Cuban has been the most vocal about it from an owner's perspective but the NBA can't stop the players from playing on their national teams.  The best the teams can do is discourage the players and take out insurance policies.


Are we rerady to go back to no NBA players on the American team?

Would it be possible to write into a contract, similar with what they do with say dirt bikes, to not play overseas?  Maybe not a Marc Gasol caliber but more like a Manu or Yao Ming?  You know players who are very important to their teams success.

[Lurker]

And I was hoping this would happen to Gasol.   j/k.


This is the second time Parker has been hurt playing for the national team.  And, yes, it is a worry.  Cuban has been the most vocal about it from an owner's perspective but the NBA can't stop the players from playing on their national teams.  The best the teams can do is discourage the players and take out insurance policies.


Are we ready to go back to no NBA players on the American team?

Would it be possible to write into a contract, similar with what they do with say dirt bikes, to not play overseas?  Maybe not a Marc Gasol caliber but more like a Manu or Yao Ming?  You know players who are very important to their teams success.

So no LBJ, Wade, Kobe playing for Olympic gold?

But otherwise, no they can't write it into the contracts because they are not playing for money but for the love of their country.  I think Cuban explored this with Dirk's last contract.

And I was referring to the purple-and-gold wearing Gasol.

[rickortreat]

I don't think they can stop them from playing, but i do think the NBA should have a standard injury clause in their contracts which allows them to terminate a contract with a player who becomes unable to play as a result of any activity not directly related to NBA basketball.

The players could have the option of taking out insurance to compensate for the loss or demand that from their National team as a condition of playing.

This way NBA players can participate and we can see the best basketball worldwide, without killing the teams if a serious injury occurs.

[westkoast]

And I was hoping this would happen to Gasol.   j/k.


This is the second time Parker has been hurt playing for the national team.  And, yes, it is a worry.  Cuban has been the most vocal about it from an owner's perspective but the NBA can't stop the players from playing on their national teams.  The best the teams can do is discourage the players and take out insurance policies.


Are we ready to go back to no NBA players on the American team?

Would it be possible to write into a contract, similar with what they do with say dirt bikes, to not play overseas?  Maybe not a Marc Gasol caliber but more like a Manu or Yao Ming?  You know players who are very important to their teams success.

So no LBJ, Wade, Kobe playing for Olympic gold?

But otherwise, no they can't write it into the contracts because they are not playing for money but for the love of their country.  I think Cuban explored this with Dirk's last contract.

And I was referring to the purple-and-gold wearing Gasol.

Yea I know you meant Pau Gasol.  I was just trying to think of a 3rd tier type player who would leave to go play overseas for their home country.

As far as Kobe, LBJ, Wade, etc.  It doesn't seem like our guys get injured here often.  The Euro/Overseas guys get hurt every single off-season and have for the past 3-4 years.  I wonder how much of that has to do with our superior sports medicine people compared to others.

I brought up the dirk bike instance because guys don't make money doing that but are told not to.

[Lurker]

Yea I know you meant Pau Gasol.  I was just trying to think of a 3rd tier type player who would leave to go play overseas for their home country.

Like Manu?   

Or Kaman.   

As far as Kobe, LBJ, Wade, etc.  It doesn't seem like our guys get injured here often.  The Euro/Overseas guys get hurt every single off-season and have for the past 3-4 years.  I wonder how much of that has to do with our superior sports medicine people compared to others.

I brought up the dirk bike instance because guys don't make money doing that but are told not to.

For US players it is the bigs that seem to have problems.  But there have been several instances that we discussed in the past about players who play in international competition being more susceptible to injury the following season.  Or at least showing signs of fatigue as the season wears on.  For international players the ones who get injured are often THE player for their country's team.  So they are often asked to carry the team as well as be the target of opposing enforcers.

The dirt bike example is a good one but IMO the difference is like telling David Robinson he can't play for the American team.  DRob's sense of duty to his country would have made this very difficult for him.  Many of these foreign players have that same deep sense of duty to their countries.

[westkoast]

Like Manu?   

Or Kaman.   

Any player who is not a major impact player for a contender is what I was going for.  Chris Kaman is an impact player for a team that will never win a title.  Manu is a major imapct player for a contender.  Honestly I think had Manu been healthy this past season the Spurs wouldn't have went 1 and done.

For US players it is the bigs that seem to have problems.  But there have been several instances that we discussed in the past about players who play in international competition being more susceptible to injury the following season.  Or at least showing signs of fatigue as the season wears on.  For international players the ones who get injured are often THE player for their country's team.  So they are often asked to carry the team as well as be the target of opposing enforcers.

Very good point.  Really it would cripple a spanish team if Pau Gasol was told not to play.  Would the Lakers be crippled with out him?  Gimpy yes, crippled no.

The dirt bike example is a good one but IMO the difference is like telling David Robinson he can't play for the American team.  DRob's sense of duty to his country would have made this very difficult for him.  Many of these foreign players have that same deep sense of duty to their countries.

Double the desire when these guys are major stars in their home country and they want to maintain that while at the same time helping their country.

You are right there is a huge difference between personal desire (dirt bikes) and national pride (playing for Spain as an example)

I guess if it was doable Houston would have did it YEARS ago lol