I used to complain about not having shoes until i saw a man with no feet!

This blog is written for basketball players, who are currently in a bad situation. My own experience has shown me that you will have to fight some issues in most teams, and at the current moment they might seem big to you, but if you look at people in other situations you will notice they are nothing. Most often we forget one fact and it’s the most important fact: YOU ARE DOING WHAT YOU LOVE DOING!!!! So the following little phrases should remind you that it could always be worse. All of those examples are not made up, they either happened to me, to someone I know or to another client of a former agency, so this is the truth! Things like this really happen, so next time when you think about complaining about your current situation …. Think again ;-)

I used to complain about my apartment being too small until I had to share an apartment with 5 other players!

I used to complain about not having cable or internet until I didn’t have electricity!

I used to complain about not having warm water until I didn’t have water at all!

I used to complain about having my washer in the neighbor house until I had to take my laundry in the city to get it washed there!

I used to complain about not having an oven until I had to share a kitchen with all my teammates!

I used to complain about not having international TV channels until I didn’t have a TV!

I used to complain about living too far from the gym until I lived in another city 40min away!

I used to complain about having a small or old car until I didn’t have a car at all!

I used to complain about too cold weather until I lived in a country, where it’s dark at 3pm and snowing 24/7!

I used to complain about having to pay for my own pre-game meal until I had to pay for my Christmas dinner  and do the dishes afterwards!

I used to complain about not all of my teammates speaking my language until I had a coach, who didn’t speak my language either!

I used to complain about one selfish teammate until I was playing with 7 other pros, whose personal goal didn’t match the team goal!

I used to complain about one hater teammate until I didn’t get along with any of them!

I used to complain about being the only one to go workout in the mornings until I didn’t have a gym to work out by myself!

I used to complain about not being the key player until I wasn’t playing at all!

I used to complain about one lost game until I went 0-12 at the beginning of the season!

I used to complain about a messed up stat sheet until the league didn’t scout any of our games!

I used to complain about a sprained ankle until I was out for the season!

I used to complain about being out for the season until I wasn’t able to ever play ball again!

I used to complain about having a bad trainer until I had to tape my own ankle!

I used to complain about too long road trips until I had to take a plane even to my own home games!

I used to complain about not being able to go home for Christmas until I got a ticket to go home for Christmas with no return flight!

I used to complain about always getting my money late until I didn’t get my money at all!

I used to complain about something in my team until I didn’t have a team at all…

So remember, there is always, ALWAYS, A-L-W-A-Y-S something to be thankful for!

The Player Code

Hey everyone,

it's again the time of waiting for most of the players. Some have already been lucky to sign, and some are still looking for good deals. I am one of the lucky ones :)

However, I just heard not too long ago some ridiculous offers for players. Apparently there are agents out there, who "sale" their players for really low salaries to teams and that is the reason why i decided to write a blog on it. I want to emphasise that this is my own opinion and just an advice to all the players!

Every player has their own expectations and their own limits, and once you are in the overseas game, you made it. That is probably the reason why so many players sign for really low money the first year because they just "want to get their foot in the door". Okay, don't get me wrong, I am not a Dirk Nowitzki or Candice Parker, who makes millions every season, but I am also a single person, who is responsible to make their own money, pay their own bills, and survive a WHOLE YEAR, not just a season of 8-10months! Some of you even have a family, wife or husband and kids to take care of.

Normally, I don't talk about the money, but to me it is ridiculous that there are players out there playing for money as low as $500 (350€) a month!!!!!! If you are a youth player in your own country, living by mom and dad, still studying and not having to pay your bills, then this might be a good pocket-money and a nice solution until you graduate and are able to take your game to a new level, but a foreigner? I say NO WAY!!! Yes, the team pays for your apartment and most of the bills, sometimes you even get meals at a restaurant, but what do you have left over after the month? What if your teammates invite you to go somewhere and you have to turn it down because you have no money, but you are suppose to be the pro-player?

Then again you hear them say - "It will just be for the first season!" or "I just have to get my foot in the door!". I will tell you something, next year there is someone else, who just needs to get their foot in the door, and will play for lower money than you, be just as highly motivated, and the one year experience won't make a big difference. That's the reality! Why do you think there are so many teams, who sign players fresh out of college, they play a great season, and the next year they want more money, so their old team takes again a college graduate. That's how it most times goes, and why not too many people make it to the top because especially American Guards are more than enough available and each one of them will play for less money!

I was thinking how to prevent or stop that cycle. Of course, your agent has a huge part in it. I don't even think it is responsible as agent to send one of your players for such low money to a foreign country. Therefore, one of the steps could be - reconsider if you have a good agent, if your agent is one of those, who offers you a $500/300€ deal! Even if you do this, there are also a lot of clubs out there, who try to sign you without an agent, without the official contract, and pay you under the table. Therefore, all players should consider to have a minimum limit of monthly salary. I had also talks with agents about this before, agents, who care about their players, and what deals they let their players sign. If each one of us agrees on not signing anything below a monthly salary of $850/600€, we could solve the problem because then the teams will have to offer players more than before. However, this only works when everyone of the newbies agrees to the player code. I hope it works, and you guys spread the word! Feedback is always appreciated and good luck for all of you for the new season!