RealGM

Really interesting Piece about Troy Barnies who plays in Hungary for SE Paks. He goes in Depth about all of the nonsense you have to deal with as a Ball Player in a Foreign Country:

http://popgates.com/the-specialist-troy-barnies/

I am curious if anybody has played or knows anyone who has played overseas and what their experiences were like on the whole in comparison?

Bhorvath22 wrote:Really interesting Piece about Troy Barnies who plays in Hungary for SE Paks. He goes in Depth about all of the nonsense you have to deal with as a Ball Player in a Foreign Country:

http://popgates.com/the-specialist-troy-barnies/

I am curious if anybody has played or knows anyone who has played overseas and what their experiences were like on the whole in comparison?

It really depends on the situation, country and quality of the organization and league you're playing. If a team signs you to play for them, they most likely want you to play a lot of minutes, be very consistent and be one of the teams main guys. Some teams in lower leagues only sign one professional, so you better perform and produce, otherwise they'll send you back home.

The isolation is true to a certain degree, but that's mostly cause the player just doesnt want to fit in or the chemistry just aint there. I've played with a number of american pros. Some of them were really interested in the culture over here and wanted to see things, go out, workout together etc.
Others just want to be left alone, want to be on facebook all day, shy away from the food, the people etc.

Teams not paying the bills, paying the salary too late, not providing wi-fi. Yeah, that happens a lot. But all in all, I've never played with an american pro who regretted coming to europe to play.

Paul Shirley's book: Can I Keep My Jersey? goes through a lot of this. It is an interesting read about the career of a guy on the fringe of the NBA.

lambchop wrote:

Bhorvath22 wrote:Really interesting Piece about Troy Barnies who plays in Hungary for SE Paks. He goes in Depth about all of the nonsense you have to deal with as a Ball Player in a Foreign Country:

http://popgates.com/the-specialist-troy-barnies/

I am curious if anybody has played or knows anyone who has played overseas and what their experiences were like on the whole in comparison?

It really depends on the situation, country and quality of the organization and league you're playing. If a team signs you to play for them, they most likely want you to play a lot of minutes, be very consistent and be one of the teams main guys. Some teams in lower leagues only sign one professional, so you better perform and produce, otherwise they'll send you back home.

The isolation is true to a certain degree, but that's mostly cause the player just doesnt want to fit in or the chemistry just aint there. I've played with a number of american pros. Some of them were really interested in the culture over here and wanted to see things, go out, workout together etc.
Others just want to be left alone, want to be on facebook all day, shy away from the food, the people etc.

Teams not paying the bills, paying the salary too late, not providing wi-fi. Yeah, that happens a lot. But all in all, I've never played with an american pro who regretted coming to europe to play.

What country do you play?

BarbaGrizz wrote:

lambchop wrote:

Bhorvath22 wrote:Really interesting Piece about Troy Barnies who plays in Hungary for SE Paks. He goes in Depth about all of the nonsense you have to deal with as a Ball Player in a Foreign Country:

http://popgates.com/the-specialist-troy-barnies/

I am curious if anybody has played or knows anyone who has played overseas and what their experiences were like on the whole in comparison?

It really depends on the situation, country and quality of the organization and league you're playing. If a team signs you to play for them, they most likely want you to play a lot of minutes, be very consistent and be one of the teams main guys. Some teams in lower leagues only sign one professional, so you better perform and produce, otherwise they'll send you back home.

The isolation is true to a certain degree, but that's mostly cause the player just doesnt want to fit in or the chemistry just aint there. I've played with a number of american pros. Some of them were really interested in the culture over here and wanted to see things, go out, workout together etc.
Others just want to be left alone, want to be on facebook all day, shy away from the food, the people etc.

Teams not paying the bills, paying the salary too late, not providing wi-fi. Yeah, that happens a lot. But all in all, I've never played with an american pro who regretted coming to europe to play.

What country do you play?

germany

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuvrzfTFfZw[/youtube]

lambchop wrote:The isolation is true to a certain degree, but that's mostly cause the player just doesnt want to fit in or the chemistry just aint there. I've played with a number of american pros. Some of them were really interested in the culture over here and wanted to see things, go out, workout together etc.
Others just want to be left alone, want to be on facebook all day, shy away from the food, the people etc.

That's kind of sad. I know its not the NBA like every American born player dreamed of growing up, but how awesome it must be to be able to live overseas and make a living playing the greatest game in the world. Shut down that laptop for a few minutes fellas.

It really depends on the situation, there's no two situation that's the same.

Some countries that level of adjustment is relatively less (say... Israel ... Europe.) some is way more . (say.. any of the Asian leagues.) in terms of life style. but hey , some dudes do it just fine.


(Mabury basically turned into half Chinese by now lol.)

The biggest fear is payment, this is a big problem since most of the league aren't exactly in Western Europe. even some Eastern European countries might dodge pay checks or go out of business etc. Pretty much no one that's played over seas for a significant period manage to do it without getting screwed out of at least some contract money. So if you happen to be a player going that rout, be really careful on the contract language and do your homework on the team's situation.