"This was a business decision. There were a lot of factors that played a part in it, but the main thing was that I felt that I'm ready ... there is no better place in the world to do it, than in the NBA."
-- Scotty Thurman,
April 18, 1995
As a junior at the University of Arkansas, Scotty Thurman uttered that promising phrase while standing behind the podium at a press conference at Bud Walton Arena. Five years later, Thurman got his wish -- that is, the "world" part.
Undrafted in the '95 NBA draft, Thurman has since traveled the world, wearing uniforms for teams in Cyprus, Greece, most recently Lebanon, as well as in the CBA. Thurman was 20 years old when he hit "The Shot" -- a 3-pointer over Duke's Antonio Lang with less than a minute to play that gave Arkansas the 1994 NCAA Championship.
He was famous, for what must now feel like only a moment.
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Options Off The Court
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For some college stars, deciding to give up their NBA dreams leads to success without sneakers.
One such player is Wagner College head coach Dereck Whittenburg, just one of several former point guards now coaching a Division I team. Others recognizable names include Steve Alford at Iowa and Quin Snyder at Missouri.
Whittenburg, who played on North Carolina State's 1983 national championship team, has been coaching for the last 15 seasons. He started as a graduate assistant and then assistant under his former coach, the late Jim Valvano. His coaching tenure has included stops at Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Long Beach State and George Mason.
But Whittenburg says getting a coaching spot on a Division I bench is almost as hard as making the NBA.
"If you don't know somebody, or if you are not an ex-player of the coach, it's much harder," Whittenburg said. "A coach is going to hire all his ex-players first because he is more comfortable with them than someone who comes off the street. And then, on top of those odds, only about 15 percent of the 319 Division I basketball schools can afford to hire extra assistants."
Damon Bailey, once among Indiana University's most coveted recruits, retired prior to the '99 season and readily admits he hasn't "shot around since last Christmas." Not to worry. Bailey is making more money now than he ever did on the court.
A second-round draft pick of the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the '94 NBA draft, Bailey underwent two knee surgeries that kept him from ever playing for the Pacers. He wound up in France for a season, earning approximately $200,000, and then played for four seasons with the Fort Wayne Fury of the CBA at around $50,000 a season. His coach at Fort Wayne? Keith Smart. But that's another story.
When it was clear that Bailey's contract would be crunched last year -- as a result of Isiah Thomas' salary cap demands on the league -- Bailey luckily had post-basketball plan in place. Upon graduating from Indiana, Bailey started up a warehouse that supplied maintenance materials for coal mines and construction companies. Five years later, Hawkins Bailey revenues are up from $1.5 million to $5 million.
"I realized that if basketball didn't work out, I could have something that I could do full time," Bailey said. "If I played basketball, for the first four or five years, I could use my basketball money and never take any money out of my business."
Still, Bailey admits it wasn't easy to give up basketball.
"It's now my second year out and it really bothers me sometimes," he said. "I've been going to a lot more of the Indiana games and the competitiveness comes back out a little bit more now that I am sitting in the office."
Surprisingly, Bailey said he does not have a basketball hoop in his back yard.
--Darren Rovell
ESPN.com
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Sure, he could have stayed in college one more year. But Thurman couldn't wait. He wanted to prove his skills to the world in the professional ranks. He was hot, his face on the covers of magazines, his name familiar to every hoop fan in the country.
Never could he have imagined his resumé wouldn't include the NBA. Neither did the thousands of players Thurman now finds himself grouped with in 2000.
Thurman isn't an anomaly, but rather he helps make up the majority of college stars who never get the chance to dribble the ball for an NBA team. This, however, doesn't mean their playing days are over, or their dream of earning an NBA paycheck must die. These players simply choose other career paths on the court.
While it's safe to say every player not in the NBA aspires to play in the NBA, there is a decent living to be made in basketball without David Stern's signature on the check. While most would prefer to stay in the U.S., many have taken off for hoop riches overseas. But it's still safe to say the CBA remains the most popular option for players aching to get that call to play in the NBA.
As the official developmental league, the CBA gets NBA funding, has close ties with league scouts and has a vast history.
"We're now in our 55th consecutive season and we have one of the oldest running leagues in the business today," boasts Don Welsh, the league's president.
The CBA averages 50 to 70 player call-ups a season, and has helped players such as Mario Elie, John Starks and, more recently, the Nets' Stephen Jackson, the Lakers' Mike Penberthy and the Clippers' Jeff McInnis get their big breaks in the NBA. Notable names floating around on this season's CBA rosters include Ed Cota, Ansu Sesay and Roberto Bergersen.
Despite the CBA's good track record, the league by no means has a monopoly on U.S. professional basketball market outside the NBA. The arrival of the International Basketball League and ABA2000 offer players more stateside options.
The IBL debuted last year and is certainly gaining momentum and credibility with familiar names gracing its teams' rosters. Two IBL alumni -- Soumalia Samake and DeeAndree Hullett -- were selected in the second round by the Nets and Raptors in the 2000 NBA draft.
Last year, the IBL had a no call-up rule with the NBA, but a change in this year's rules should make it more competitive with the CBA in this area.
"In our first year, we had to keep our players and have a sense of stability for the fans and the community," said Michael Olsen, president and general manager of the IBL's Las Vegas franchise. "But this year, it was such a big issue because in order to keep some of our best players -- who might opt for another league such as the CBA -- we realized that we had to do this."
The IBL's average salary of $40,000 is only slightly better than the CBA. Since being bought by Isiah Thomas, the CBA has undergone a strict salary cap. CBA players average $25,000, and almost always hold second "jobs" to make ends meet. Thomas since was forced to sell the league in order to coach in the NBA. But the CBA's financial future, in terms of the ability to offer players more competitive salaries, undoubtedly will depend on the league's new ownership.
ABA2000 certainly has had the most ambitious starts of any of the U.S. professional leagues. And while an announced merger of the IBL and ABA2000 fell through earlier this month, the ABA2000's strengths, from a player perspective, remain the pay and potential for exposure. Contracts average $60,000, and with four of the eight teams playing in NBA cities -- Chicago, Detroit, Indiana and Los Angeles -- professional scouts should have no problem finding a player to fill a roster spot.
No other league features as many recognizable names as the ABA2000, which prefers to be called an "alternative" to the NBA rather than a minor league. Rex Walters, JaRon Rush, Mario Bennett, Dontae Jones and Ed O'Bannon all find themselves on ABA2000 rosters and are slated to be in starting lineups when the league tips off Dec. 26.
Whether the league can survive as an "alternative," instead of a farm system, will be the ultimate test. Most teams will not allow call-ups, but some teams have structured their contracts, "as to not stop a player from pursuing his dreams," said Joe Newman, one of ABA2000's co-founders.
If a player is looking to make a nice living, and isn't against learning a new language, Europe is definitely the best option.
A good college player with legitimate skills usually earns from $200,000 to as much as $750,000 a season. Tax free. These contracts also can include living expenses, a car and air fare back and forth from the United States. Even a mid-tier player in these leagues can net more than this year's NBA minimum of $316,969.
But Europe definitely has its share of problems.
"Some European contracts aren't worth the paper they are written on," said Keith Kreiter, agent and president of Edge Sports International. "Some are voided at will. Sometimes payments don't show up on time and sometimes even the main sponsor withdraws from a team and a player is asked to take a pay cut."
The highest leagues in France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Germany, however, have good reputations among players and agents. They also just happen to be the best at guaranteeing contracts, Kreiter said.
Getting "called up" to the NBA -- or in the case of players in Europe, "called over" -- is certainly rare for a player playing halfway around the world. But Rade Filipovic, director of European basketball for Bill Duffy and Associates, says it's not impossible.
"During the lockout, we sent our client, Michael Olowokandi to Europe because he was very, very young and he needed minutes," Filipovic said. "In order to protect him we signed a contract that would let him go once the lockout was over. If other players sign similar contracts like this, it is possible to leave Europe in the middle of the season."
The competition in Europe is considered to be well below even the fringe leagues in the United States. But Filipovic said the European game figures to improve with an apparent merger between superleagues FIBA and ULEB. This, he said, could draw more players from the states.
Still, when Scotty Thurman took the stage five years ago, odds are that he knew much more about the NBA than the CBA or FIBA. And each year there are plenty of players like Thurman who find themselves playing the role of foreigner. All they can hope is the path someday leads to the NBA. Then, maybe once again, their names will roll off fans' tongues like they once did in college.
Darren Rovell covers sports business for ESPN.com. He can be reached at darren.rovell@espn.com.
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