Capn Design Archives: Pay to Play

Pay to Play

May 1, 2002

(Begin Dramatic Music) And now...from Shanghai, China...at 7 foot 5...YAO MING! (End Music)

You read correctly -- a person from China is actually 7'5". He also happens to be an amazing basketball player. Although athleticism is intriguing in its own right, his tryouts with NBA teams have evoked a new dilemma: Will Yao Ming be able to play in the states without giving all of his money back to China?

According to this NYT article, China is telling the young star that he must agree to receive pennies on the dollar if he signs to an NBA team. The NYT has interesting thoughts about this in the article and reminds us that this concent really isn't new.

There is plenty of justification for hefty soccer-style "transfer fees" for teams and associations that develop players. China just needs to be minimally reasonable. As it stands now, Yao is likely to agree to everything, until he gets drafted. Then he hires an American lawyer. It is so predictable.

Comments (1 comments so far)

Comment #1:

The people of China are being snobs about Yao. They are saying that he must be drafted by a team that will be guaranteed NBA champions in 2 to 3 years, so that Yao can have the ring he deserves. And according to Sportcenter, in a press release yesterday, Yao Ming is to be known as "China's gift to the world." Sportcenter's response: "That may be true, but who really cares?" I agree. I think I'll stick with Mengke Bateer (of the Denver Nuggets) or maybe even Wang Zhizhi (of the Dallas Mavs).

Posted by Sarah on May 02, 2002 at 12:42PM

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