The flight of talent from the large European academies towards abroad is a phenomenon that has only just begun. This is how all the parties involved and the main agents of the world basketball organization see it. The emergence of professional remuneration in the NCAAthe American university league, through the NIL (indirect remuneration programme for image and name rights), has blown the status quo out of the water. Kaspars Jakucionisfrom Barça, Egor Deminfrom Madrid or Ruben Preyby Joventut, are just the most recent examples of this bleeding with no signs of stopping.
These clubs and other big clubs from the old continent see how the degree of impact continues to increase and are resigned to forecasts that point to an exponential increase in the purchasing power of the programs in the Anglo-Saxon panorama. Not only USA represents a threat, but also initiatives such as the NBL Next Stars of Australiawhich adds attractive options on a sporting and economic level for the great future projects of an increasingly global basketball. Be Almansawho left the quarry of Real Madrid to prepare for the specialized academy Overtime Elite and then play in the extinct G-League Igniteis the paradigmatic example of this loss of attractiveness of the classic European model.
Matas Buzelis and Izan Almansa, two of the talents of the latest batch of Ignite
NBAE
Murcian talent, 19 yearsone of the most decorated players in the Spanish national team’s youth ranks, is now contemplating joining the Adelaide Wildcats after postponing his candidacy for the NBA Draft for a year. The Aussie team has trained the Frenchman this last season Alexandre Sarr, potential number one in the imminent event that includes the best future talents of the American league, as part of its seductive program for promising young people. Faced with the revolution represented by the NIL, in fact, the NBA He does not hesitate to admit that it does not make sense to continue trying to attract great talents at a formative age.
Even the NBA is wiped off the map
“Yes, it has a lot to do with it,” answer Mark Tatumvice commissioner of the American league, when asked about MD about the closure of the Ignite program. “When we created the G-League Ignite, we did so in response to a request from the NCAA to find a solution for high school players who did not want to go to college and preferred to opt for the professional path. That was the response of the basketball community [en Estados Unidos] at that moment,” he argues.
“Now, the panorama has changed radically. And we felt it was the right time to end the program. We had achieved what we wantedcreate that professional path [en Estados Unidos]. Now there are many options for young athletes, who can develop and earn money thanks to the NIL and other programs, and we are delighted with the result,” adds Tatum in his conversation with this newspaper.
Mark Tatum, deputy commissioner of the NBA and COO of the league, during a media meeting in Madrid
NBAE
If the league with the greatest economic potential in the world of basketball does not intend to compete against the NCAAit is evident that the European domestic leagues, even the Euroleaguethey will not find an effective response to a phenomenon that changes everything.
“What they are paying now is crazy that breaks the market,” regretted Paulius MotiejunasCEO of the main continental club competition, during the last Final Four won by Panathinaikos. “There is no motivation for European clubs to make young players grow, and it is something that also It’s on the FIBA table“, added the president. The international entity, without any control over private leagues such as the NBA and the NCAA, has been washing its hands of this matter for a couple of years.
“Whenever there is a change of this magnitude in the ecosystem, it is necessary to do a very deep reflection. The changes in the NCAA are historic and we are in this process,” he noted. Jorge Garbajosa, former president of the FEB and current head of the FIBA in Europe, in a recent interview with 2Playbook. “It is a debate that, in essence, responds to the commercial power of each one in a free market environment. We must study measures that allow us to limit it in part,” added the former player and executive. The most cited measures, in this sense, are financial compensation or the regulation of passports with age limits, although this situation is comparable to the one that until recently allowed great talents to be nurtured into the quarries of powers such as Spain.
Kristaps Porzingis defends Luka Doncic during the NBA Finals
Charles Krupa / Ap-LaPresse
Where did they come from, if not, the Madrid Luka Doncic and the Sevillian Kristaps Porzingis? The two great European protagonists of the recent NBA Finals They emigrated from their countries with 13 and 15 years respectively for the same reason as now the Jakucionis, Prey, Ismaila Diagné and company choose the NCAA as their preferred training destination. “Trying or trying to stop what a player considers his professional development does not seem to make much sense to me,” he commented. Antonio Martin, president of the ACB, in a recent appearance. “It’s another thing when there is no respect for my 18 clubs with the effort they make with their quarries, which is very great. In that sense I don’t like the way that talent is extracted”, he said.
This summer’s talent drain adds to the first warnings of this phenomenon last year, when players like Candidate Mara (Zaragoza) and Conrad Martinez (Penya) have already taken the retributive path recently inaugurated by the NCAA.
Aday Mara, during her first year at UCLA
Jan Kim Lim / UCLA Athletics
An attractive option in every sense
From a human point of view, it is difficult to blame them. Salaries in the United States are up to ten times larger that in Spain (close to a million dollars for several of the cases cited), and the attraction of combining studies and athletic development in a balanced way, always at the highest level and with the addition of polishing languages, is unparalleled in the rest of the world. “What parent wouldn’t want that for their children?”explains a source close to one of these cases.
From the players’ environment, they point to the lack of opportunities within the European professional panorama. The presence of young people from 18 and 22 years with prominence in the elite squads is scarce, if not non-existent. You can mention James Nnajifrom Barça, or the intended Juan Nunezwho left Madrid heading to Ulm to precisely win in minutes and presence on the court. Long gone are those times of Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernandez or the brothers Gasolall of them with a very relevant role in the future of their clubs, although we are talking about real rare birds.
“What doesn’t work for sure is complaining or putting limitations on this situation.”because it is impossible when the boys do not sign professional contracts,” he says. Guillermo Bermejo, European director of the basketball division of the You First agency. “The message is that You have to be proactive and find a way to repay the investment madethat there is a return, because this will not stop,” he suggests.
One of the European clubs that has reacted best to this new paradigm is the Zalgiris Kaunas, which has accepted the irremediable leak and built bridges with several university programs, finding creative ways to get a return on its investment in the quarry. An example is the friendlies that he has played against American universities in the Bahamas, even promoting the release of his best projects to finish his training in the United States. The expectation is that someone else will train them at no cost and they will end up returning to the cradle fully fledged.
“There are very few Egor Demins in life, the Aday Mara can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The normal thing is that the players pass four or five years and then they return with money in their pockets, a good academic curriculum and much better prepared at the highest level in Europe, more so than when they leave at 18 years old,” concludes Bermejo, who suggests opening more avenues of collaboration between the clubs and the preferred destinations of his greatest talents.
Rubén Prey represents a novel approach to the situation between Europe and the NCAA
@PENYA1930
Joventut seeks an intermediate solution
Following the case of the Portuguese Prey, one of the last to be known, Joventut has opted for a novel solution so far. The club has not terminated his contract, but rather maintains it but allows him to spend a year in Saint John’sthe university that attracted him from the United States.
“The rules of the game have obviously changed.. In the case of Rubén Prey it is a possibility that we make compatible for his personal and professional training. It is a formula that we could say adapts to these new regulations that come from the United States,” he said. Dani Miret, team coach, in statements reported by La Tertúlia de Televisió de Badalona. “We give the possibility for the player to leave for a year and then return. We are pioneers since this is something positive for him“We show the player that one thing and the other are compatible,” he added.
The path chosen by Penya in this matter is perhaps, as several actors suggest, the mostsincere and accurate until the FIBA put a stop to the matter and reach compensation agreements at a general level, if that possibility is possible. At the moment, on the horizon, we can only see an increase in the remunerative power of the NCAA and other Anglo-Saxon programs while the bleeding of European quarries continues unstoppably.
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2024-06-26 04:50:00
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