Health & Fitness
Two Tickets to Europe- Kobe and Tony Parker pack their bags
with the browns having a bye week, the Indians sadly out of the race, and the cavs stuck in negotiation limbo, I take a look at two NBA stars heading overseas
My friend Michelle (@MichAmAnd) recently posted an interesting comment on the
fact that Kobe Bryant is basically getting paid close to $3million to take a vacation to Europe oh and if he has some time maybe play a little basketball and entertain the locals.
Michelle’s comment was instantly met with a lot of hatred and distain for the “most popular man in the NBA” and with a lot of good reason. Add in the fact that Tony Parker (another big name?) is also heading to Europe but at a much discounted rate.
At first glance I had to agree with most of the comments, its public knowledge that both Kobe and TP in no way need any additional money (Kobe could probably help the team out if he paid them) and leaving in the middle of a nasty argument with the fate of our NBA season in the balance is definitely not gaining any goodwill to either man on this side of the pond.
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But maybe there is some silver lining in this cloud. Tony Parker may actually come out of this as an ok guy and may even add a little blue to his collar by the time the season is back (if that ever happens). ESPN has reported that Tony Parker will be receiving around $200k for his time in Europe (lower than the NBA league minimum I believe).
Why would Tony be so quick to take this little of amount to play a game? Tony Parker actually owns part of the team in France he is going to play for and instead of stroking his ego and getting “Kobe money” Tony did the smart thing and helped his team out by taking less. (In the end this may just be a smart business move where Tony would have had to pay himself out of his own pocket so why ask for more).
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With all the trouble sports has gotten itself into with overpaying athletes, its nice to see some (ok one) aren’t that concerned with money and just want to do something with their extended off season.
BTW-Sorry it’s been so long since the last post, I’ll be back at
it on a more regular basis with hopefully some more entertaining articles you
actually want to read. Feel free to comment below and suggestions are always
welcome. Don’t forget to follow me on twitter (@solonpatchblog) for all your
sports updates and live tweets!
See you in Blieveland!