Wow - McCaskill's still playing

[lurch91]

Saw this article this morning, Amal's still playing some basketball.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=747149

[BrewCity83]

These guys, too:

Joe Chapman  Marquette  Geofin (Czech Republic)
Chris Grimm  Marquette  Herens (Switzerland)
Cordell Henry  Marquette  Ovarense (Portugal)
Mike Kinsella  Marquette  Kaposvari (Hungary)
Amal McCaskill  Marquette  An Nasr (United Arab Emirates)
Tony Miller  Marquette  Everton (England)

It would be interesting to see what kind of paychecks they are getting over there.

[MR.HAYWARD]

i would say Wow!! danny jones is still playing!! Always hated that guy...will never forget the Tyrone baldwin backcourt violation.  danny Jones has to be at least 40!!

[downtown85]

It would be interesting to see what kind of paychecks they are getting over there.

I would say it is better than you think, given the weakness of the dollar.

[downtown85]

It's amazing what you find on youtube.  A Joe Chapman interview in Czech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP-asWLPelg&feature=related

He says he plans to go to the NBA next year!  You heard it here first. 

[BrewCity83]

I would say it is better than you think, given the weakness of the dollar.

That's what I was thinking; I bet some of these guys are making pretty good coin.

[Avenue Commons]

It's amazing what you find on youtube.  A Joe Chapman interview in Czech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP-asWLPelg&feature=related

He says he plans to go to the NBA next year!  You heard it here first. 

That a boy. Never give up on the dream!

I would think playing abroad for a few years after college would be an awesome experience. By the way, if you've never read Paul Shirley's blog on ESPN.com about playing abroad and in the minor league's you should. He's a very, very good writer and is pretty funny.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=shirley_paul&page=Journal-55

[chapman]

It's amazing what you find on youtube.  A Joe Chapman interview in Czech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP-asWLPelg&feature=related

He says he plans to go to the NBA next year!  You heard it here first. 

I'm surprised, but that is what he said.  I don't know about going from a place with little kids running on the court and him holding a CD in his hands while interviewing to the NBA, but it looks like he's had no trouble in Colombia, Mexico, or the Czech Republic.  I could see a move to the NBDL for him.

http://www.latinbasket.com/player.asp?Cntry=MEX&PlayerID=39490&AmNotSure=1
http://www.athletemi.com/athletes/joechapman.php

[jce]

i would say Wow!! danny jones is still playing!! Always hated that guy...will never forget the Tyrone baldwin backcourt violation.  danny Jones has to be at least 40!!

Danny Jones was a player at UW when I was at MU...and I'm 39.  That was the biggest surprise on the list along with Tony Miller.  I had thought he retired.

[jficke13]

ive heard the money in european bball is very good. not millions of dollars, but definitely a good living. remember when gerry mcnamera turned down good money in europe to play in the D-league?

[lurch91]

ive heard the money in european bball is very good. not millions of dollars, but definitely a good living. remember when gerry mcnamera turned down good money in europe to play in the D-league?

I'm not sure what players in the D-League get, but I'm pretty Euro-league teams can beat it pretty easily.

[Skatastrophy]

I'm not sure what players in the D-League get, but I'm pretty Euro-league teams can beat it pretty easily.

D-League salaries:

To become eligible for the D-League draft, a player must contact the league office, and sign a general player contract with the league. The league determines if the player receives an A, B, or C level contract. Every team is only allowed a select number of A and B players, so they must use those spots wisely. D-League salaries have increased slightly this year. The C contract will be worth $15,000 this season, up from $12,000 last season. The B level contract pays $20,000 this season (up from 18k), and the A contract will be worth $25,000 (up from 24k). These contracts become voided if a team gets a call-up from an NBA team, but are signed for one year otherwise. If a D-League player wants to leave for Europe, they must first arrange a buyout for their contract. The buyout is $30,000.00 from December 31st to the end of the Season in April 2008, $15,000.00 if you get out the contract before the Draft on November 1, 2007, and $20,000.00 from November 2, 2007 to December 30, 2007.

European League Salaries

   Let’s do a quick comparison to the NBA teams. According to this article, an average NBA team’s annual budget is $100 million, with $50-60 million allocated for salaries. Adding all these teams’ budgets up we get to an average of $17,000,000. Looks like alot less money for European clubs, doesn’t it? It also means for me that the top clubs of Europe, like CSKA Moscow aren’t that far from the “cheaper” NBA teams and as you can see with Panathinaikos and Real Madrid, money can’t always buy you Euroleague championships - at least this season.

I just put this together quickly, and it needs to be taken with a grain of salt because I have no idea how trustworthy those sites are...

It seems like a player could potentially make significantly more money in Europe than in the D-league.  I'm surprised how low those salaries are... they're below poverty level

[spiral97]

I'm surprised how low those salaries are... they're below poverty level

keep in mind that these contracts are for around 5.5 months of work.. which means the lowest paid contract (C-level) @ $15k comes out to around $17 per hour if it were equated to a 40 hour/week job during that time..  Maybe not superstar pay but well above minimum wage..

I'd bet that they have gigs or jobs during the off-season that supplements their NBADL salaries too.  Some may even have things going on during the season (since most NBADL games seem to be played between Thursday and Sunday) in the background.

Not sure what the marketing opportunities are for NBADL players either.. maybe local advertising contracts, radio show gigs, etc.?

[MUEng92]

Danny Jones was a player at UW when I was at MU...and I'm 39.  That was the biggest surprise on the list along with Tony Miller.  I had thought he retired.

Danny Jones was two grades ahead of me at Boylan Catholic High School in Rockford, IL (TallTitan, I can't believe you didn't comment on a fellow Titan!).  When he played for UW, I didn't realize what a terrible thing it was   Thankfully, I have since become enlightened!

I will never forget the photo in one of our yearbooks of DJ carrying the crucifix to the altar at a school mass.  A 6'10" altar boy!

[MUBB7703]

Danny Jones graduated in 1989 and was only 6'6''.

[MUEng92]

I'll admit I took a flyer on his height.  I swear he was taller than 6'6", but I am not going to lose sleep over it.

However, Danny Jones graduated from Boylan High School in 1986.  He was in the class between my older brother and sister.  HE graduated from Madison in 1990.

Good Lord, I am so sorry.  I can't believe I accidently typed "I graduated from Madison in 1990".  It is hard to type this apology because of my body twitching from reading what I had typed!

[Brandinooo]

I just stumbled across this on Youtube...Joe Chapman interviewed playing for his crazy European team Geofin Novy Jicin. Anyone else see this? Is this old news to everyone here? Apparently he's thinking NBA next year .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP-asWLPelg

[sailwi]

Looked like Joe was more interested in getting home and playing whatever was on the CD's he kept tossing around than doing that interview.  He did say his goal for next year is the NBA, hope he makes it but doubtful unless his game has improved dramatically.

[4everwarriors]

I may try the NBA too.

[romey]

I may try the NBA too.

Good luck forever - you need an agent?  You'd be a perfect fit to replace Baron Davis at Golden State.