What’s up guys! Thank you for joining me yet again where I will be discussing everything that you will need to know about overseas basketball. It has been quite a journey and we have just three blogs left after this one (sigh), so let's build off of last week and keep this train rolling!
LAST WEEK: I discussed "transitioning" from the NBA to overseas basketball. I talked about specific players who transitioned and why they made the decision to go from a top dog, to starting from square 1 in their professional careers.
ICYMI: The two biggest takeaways from my fourth blog about “Transitioning” was…
How attitudes of players can affect their careers (no coach wants a player who is hard to coach)
Inability to adapt to a new environment can KILL your career in the NBA. It's very different from college basketball
Both Jimmer Fredette and Michael Beasley were top players in college. Things like attitude/behavior problems and the inability to adapt to the NBA environment made it difficult for these two too be successful in the NBA.
In this blog today, we are going to be discussing the German Basketball League, which is one of the most recognized leagues in Europe. Let’s get it…
What exactly is the German BBL?
· It is the top league of professional basketball in Germany
· It’s comprised of 18 teams
· There is a league stage and a playoff stage
· It is run by the Basketball Bundesliga, which is one of the governing body’s for professional basketball in Germany
The German BBL was founded in 1966, just 56 years ago. Alex King hold the record for the most number of appearances (638) and Mike Jackel holds the record for the league’s top scorer with 10,783 points.
*Alex King* (top)
*Mike Jackel* (bottom)
The league is broken up into six different tiers:
1. Basketball Bundesliga (National 1st Division)
2. Basketball Bundesliga (National 2nd Division)
3. Pro A (National 2nd Division)
4. Pro B (National 3rd Division)
5. Regionalliga (National 4th Division)
6. Regionalliga (National 5th Division)
7. Landesliga Oberliga (National 6th Division)
The German Basketball League system is hierarchical, meaning there is demotion and promotion between the different competition levels. Each competition level has a different number of teams/groups.
Individuals
One name you may be familiar with is Derrick Alston Jr. This 6’9” Guard from Houston Texas is now playing for the Rostock Seawolves, a team out of Rostock, Germany. Derrick graduated from Boise State, where he was originally a walk-on. Derrick went from averaging 0.6 points per game as a freshman, to averaging 17.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, and earning a scholarship as well (WOW!!). A truly inspirational story and a testament to him as a player and person. Derrick entered the NBA draft in 2021 and unfortunately went undrafted. In the summer of 2021, he joined the Golden State Warriors summer league team. Later that year he signed with the Utah Jazz, but was waived before the season started. He joined the Salt Lake City stars as an affiliate player in October of 2021. In the Summer of 2022, was on the Dallas Mavericks NBA summer league team. In August of 2022, Alston signed a contract with Rostock Seawolves. As of the 2022-23 season, Alston is starting off his career with the Seawolves very well, averaging 25 points per game. He is definitely a player to keep up with this season.
Next, I am going to discuss salaries in the German BBL. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, money is a big factor for a lot of these overseas players. After all, this is their job, and they want to make a decent living. The German basketball league actually pay their players well in comparison to other foreign leagues. Some teams in this league have a budget of as low as $10 million, while teams like Bayern Munich have a budget of $25 million. On average, players in these leagues make anywhere from $100K-$300K per season. On the bright, overseas players do not have to pay taxes on their earnings. This means that the number on the contract is the same amount of money in your pocket. This is HUGE! Many NBA players have to spend have their salary on taxes and other expenses.
Thank you guys, so much for tuning in for yet another week of blogs! Thank you so much for following along and I hope these are helping you as you're about to take the next step in your journey! Be sure to tune in next week for we will be discussing basketball rules between the states and overseas leagues! #ballislife #overseasbasketball#besafe#D1athlete#hoops#salaries#fifthblog
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