The good news about basketball’s growing popularity is that it’s created plenty of job opportunities for those who can’t make it in the NBA but don’t want to give up their dreams of playing professionally. The downside is they’re poaching some of our talent (though I’m not too worried) and the organizations with the deepest pockets can stack their teams.
That’s exactly what the Greek team Olympiakos has done. In addition to signing Josh Childress last year, Olympiakos has just signed both Linas Kleiza and Von Wafer. The team has also added former Washington State star Thomas Kelati from a Spanish team. Seems to me as if they’re going with the Orlando Magic approach considering all three player’s strength is outside shooting.
Even though Olympiakos is stacking their team they still didn’t win the Greek league last year from what I could tell, proving that the Yankee way doesn’t always guarantee championships much like in MLB. Weird thing is that these leagues still aren’t providing much leverage for players who are getting better offers. What would really complete the deal is if Allen Iverson or Stephon Marbury moves there because they can’t find a gig here, which is how it’s looking.
