Lessons Learned Playing Professionaly Overseas
It was three o’clock in the afternoon in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. He had arrived over a week ago, excited to play professional basketball overseas. Not really knowing much about the culture in this Western European country, he had enjoyed his stay so far, maybe even a little too much…
After a night of partying with some of his new teammates, the police showed up at his apartment. He tried to figure out what was going on, but the pounding headache was still blurring his mind. He was taken to the police station and learned that he had left his car abandoned in a ditch.
Lessons learned Playing Overseas
Making it Big
His agent Aaron had found him a club overseas. His smooth talking about all his sports agent-experience in having found other players deals in Europe, Asia as well as Australia had sold him. When Aaron convinced him his basketball future overseas was bright and that he would make lots of money, he was convinced this would be a great adventure.
Growing up and playing basketball in the States, everything had come fairly easy for him. His parents were always there, to manage and provide financially and in college he had grown accustomed to the fact that on a daily basis, his full scholarship and his parent’s allowance covered all of his study, lodging, food and basketball related costs.
He had never traveled outside of the States, neither had he learned much about different cultures, standards or languages. He naively thought that life in the United States represented life elsewhere in the world, and that the main language spoken anywhere was English.
Lessons learned Playing Overseas
A Bump in the Road
After their first game, he joined his teammates at a local bar downtown. As the drinking began, it got downhill pretty fast. When he left the bar in the wee hours, he had finally found his car, after walking around for a while. After that, everything he tried to remember was a blur.
At the police station, the team’s General Manager and a police officer sat down with him. Besides the fact that he was still intoxicated, they explained that the car the team had leased for him had been run into a tree. Even worse, it had been left abandoned in the curve of a dangerous dark street.
Five hours later, he was back in his hotel, packing his belongings. He would soon be on his way to the airport. The team expected him to pay back a fair amount of money as a reimbursement. He had contacted his parents, feeling extremely embarrassed confessing what had transpired. He could only fly home and retrieve his passport in exchange for an international wire transfer from his parents.
Lessons learned Playing Overseas
We are sorry…
His contract was revoked by the team, he had to reimburse the tickets for his flights that the team had taken care of, a deposit for the car repair and a refund on Aaron’s ten thousand dollars signing fee. He remembered Aaron had convinced upon signing that the contract had been looked over by an attorney and everything was great. He never mentioned he had also cut his own deal with team management, nor that there was a clause regarding this fee coming out of his salary, as well as a temporary 2-week trial contract, before paychecks would be delivered.
After he left Aaron a couple of texts which were left unanswered, he tried to call his cell phone. “We are sorry, the number you have called has been disconnected. Please hang up and try your call again”.
Playing Professional Basketball Overseas
In Playing professional Basketball overseas, we will touch on important steps that can make your global Basketball adventure a success. See if playing professional basketball overseas is something for you to explore.
Lessons learned Playing Overseas
A quick Reality Check
If you think the illustration above is just made up, you might want to think again. Unfortunately this story resembles a lot of what can go wrong when basketball players venture out into the world, without doing their research thoroughly. In this post, we at Reppin Hoopers will explain you the downfalls that a lack of preparation, poor decision making, dealing with bad representation and eventually all of them combined, can destroy your professional basketball career even before it has started.
Lessons learned playing overseas
Tip 1: Be aware of your representation
Use good judgment when someone becomes a little too involved in your life. It is nice to have people cheering you on and coming to watch your basketball games, but it should be a red flag if someone offers up business advice unannounced and seems to go out of their way to befriend you.
Even though someone introduces themselves as a sports or basketball agent and seems to have good intentions, it is still wise to check and do some necessary research online. Look for example into their own basketball experiences (playing, coaching, management). Also check their educational background and certifications. How does their networking ability come across? Have you heard of any players he or she represents and can you check whether they still play and by whom they are being represented nowadays?
When it comes to figuring out why this agent would be the right fit for you, ask yourself whether he or she indeed has your best interests at heart. If you get the feeling that this agent seems already too busy working for other basketball players, and can not really invest that much time in finding you the right team, maybe there is better representation out there for you.
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Lessons learned playing overseas
Tip 2: Study the Country and Club of interest
If you decide that you would like to jump on the opportunity to play professionally overseas, it would be a bit naive, not to study where you are going. Of course you can have an adventurous mindset and kind of ‘take it as it comes’ but most likely you might run into problems you could have avoided all together. We advise you to do research on your soon to be new country.
Check out some geographic and cultural details. It might also be wise to check whether English is spoken and if not, what the common language is. Do they have their own foreign currency and what are their traffic rules? Is there a Visa needed and how long can you be legally in the country?
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Lessons learned playing overseas
Tip 3.) Read a contract thoroughly
Of course reading your contract before signing it is pivotal. Do not just rely on what your agent tells you. Maybe the paperwork seems like a lot of information. Maybe the use of words comes across as very formal. Make sure to write down questions and discuss them with someone in your circle who you trust.
If this is going to be your first experience, it might be wise to pay for a lawyer to look at it for you. It is better to be prepared and feel protected than ending up alone in a foreign country, not knowing how to manage your business affairs.
Whether a contract is working for you depends on a lot of details. A couple questions you could be asking yourself are; How much do you think your salary should be? Who will be paying for your health insurance if there is even health insurance? Will I be paid for a year (if I can sign a two year deal) or only for the months I will be playing?
You might want to get a good arrangement regarding housing, traveling, return plane tickets and the use of a car. And you should feel comfortable about certain clauses the club has put in your contract to protect themselves.
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Lessons learned playing overseas
Tip 4.) Represent well & consider your future
This last piece of advice should not even be mentioned here, as most players have heard enough of this during their experiences playing college basketball. Though hearing it and implementing it when you are far away from people that normally hold you accountable, are two different things.
It would not be the first time a poor choice and judge of character can get a professional basketball career stranded, before there even has been one official game played. You do not often hear or read in the United States how many players never finished their first season overseas and had their contracts revoked because they got themselves in (illegal) trouble. Unfortunately there are plenty of these unsuccessful overseas stories well known and documented by club management there.
Athletes, if you have more questions or would like more help, please reach out:
If you take your career seriously and want to succeed as a professional player overseas, leave unwanted behavior at home. At all times, please apply common sense if you get tempted to place yourself into a situation that can get you in trouble.
Conduct yourself always in a professional manner and know that you are being looked upon as a role model. There is not much privacy when it comes to roaming around in the city you play. The lease car the Club provided for you usually is very identifiable and most Hoopers are just in general very easy to spot by their looks and swagger.
Last but not least, realize once your basketball season has started, that it flies by quicker than anticipated. In that regard, make sure to keep an open mind towards possible future opportunities. If you can stay at the club you are playing for currently, make sure to let them know. Securing your job for the next season ahead is always easier when you are still playing for the club, or at least are still overseas.
Lessons learned Playing Overseas
Take this into consideration
To sum it up and have your professional basketball career overseas start off well, take the following pieces of advice into consideration:
- Consult only with representatives who are educated, licensed and experienced and are having the best of interest in YOU.
- Always do your home homework and ask questions, lots of them.
- Get your close circle of family and friends involved and excited about this adventure. Once you are overseas by yourself, there will be times where you need to be able to rely on them as loneliness will kick in!
- Engage yourself with basketball players who have taken on this adventure before you. It is a great learning experience and can help you prevent mistakes.
- Making money overseas by playing basketball is more than just earning money. The life experience, independence and opportunity of being exposed to other cultures will be a valuable asset for the rest of your life.
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Playing Professional Basketball Overseas
In Playing professional Basketball overseas, we will touch on important steps that can make your global Basketball adventure a success. See if playing professional basketball overseas is something for you to explore.
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