While the lockout continues to drag on, foreign NBA players have been able to take advantage of the long break to reconnect with their roots. Tony Parker has returned to France to play for ASVEL, Leandro Barbosa is back in Brazil with Flamengo and Andrei Kirilenko has rejoined CSKA Moscow.
The Argentines who populate the NBA are no exception, preferring to keep their skills sharp by training with teams back home. After defeating their bitter rivals Brazil a month and a half ago to win the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship in Mar Del Plata and secure a berth in the Olympics next year, the stars of the team would normally be putting the final touches on preparations for the NBA regular season. Instead, Manu Ginobili is training with Estudiantes and Luis Scola is doing the same with Obras.
These teams would love to have these players actually, you know, playing for them but the problem, according to Diario Deportivo Ole, is the players’ insurance would be far too costly for these teams.
Uruguayan giants Peñarol want to sign Philadelphia Sixers forward Andres Nocioni, who appears to be fully recovered from an injury during the FIBA tournament and is about to start training with the team, but could they really afford him as a player?
“What they could pay for him would be around $25,000 to $30,000 but the issue here is the insurance, in his case it would be $55,000 a month,” explains Claudio Villanueva, his agent, to Ole.
Villanueva also confirmed Obras reached out to him to see if Scola could play in an upcoming South American tournament but the same obstacles apply as well and he’s also still healing from an ankle injury.
Ginobili just declined an offer from Virtus Bologna, preferring to wait to sign in Europe only as a last resort should the NBA season be cancelled, according to Villanueva, who also said that Manu will be training in two weeks with Spurs teammates Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter in San Antonio.
The agent also spilled the goods on center Fabricio Oberto, who was forced to retire last season five games into his NBA comeback with the Portland Trailblazers but returned to the national squad for the FIBA tourney.
“He doesn’t want to play (here in Argentina) because he’s only thinking of the NBA or Europe. He’s got a chance to be the 4th or 5th big man on a team, like Sean Marks was in San Antonio.”
Carlos Delfino also isn’t thinking of playing competitively in Argentina, his agent Angel Cerisola confirmed to Ole. The Milwaukee Bucks forward also has an Italian passport, and would certainly be interested in playing in Europe if there’s no NBA.
Photo via DayLife.com
