Kolo Mee
Years ago

ESPN: Why Marcus Thornton is headed down under

Boston Celtics second-round draft pick Marcus Thornton has inked a deal to start his professional career in Australia, which bucks a trend of stash players chasing better money in Europe.

Thornton, the 45th pick in June's draft, will play for the Sydney Kings of Australia's National Basketball League, the team announced Wednesday. Sydney head coach Damian Cotter noted that, "It's a great acquisition for this club. Marcus’ versatility, athleticism and skill set are going to cause matchup problems for opponents, and he’ll be coming in to a situation where he will have the opportunity to lead a very talented team."

The fact that Thornton is headed overseas next season isn't really a surprise -- the Celtics openly communicated that their fourth and final pick of the 2015 draft would have to embrace being an overseas stash or NBA Development League player -- but heading to Australia would be a bit of an eyebrow-raiser. So why would Thornton consider it?

(Rest of article via link below)

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4719962/why-thornton-might-head-down-under

More good exposure for our league!

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Kolo Mee
Years ago

Although the author does fail to mention that Thornton joins a handful of other NBA hopefuls who have followed this path and is not the one who has started the "bucking of the trend".

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Kolo Mee
Years ago

The initial article I posted includes a link to another one, which contains an interview with Josh Childress. A positive extract below - J-Chill here for the long haul?

BI: Your respective NBA contracts have been well documented, but those weren't game changers. However, you’re now a big fish in a small pond and you’ve often been touted as the biggest name to ever play in the NBL. Now that you’ve played here, would you ever recommend college graduates or fringe NBA players to seriously consider Australia’s NBL as an option?

JC: I would definitely recommend the NBL to college graduates and fringe NBA players. I think the issue that arises for many NBL teams is that it’s difficult to build teams when you have new imports every season. Building a good team starts with a foundation and if you’re shuffling in players who are viewing the league as a springboard to either make more money elsewhere or get some game footage to send to other teams, it creates a situation where it hurts the league. So getting guys who want to be here and enjoy the culture is important.

BI: When I’ve spoken with other former NCAA players in the past (who have competed in the NBL) they often cite the climate, lifestyle, being paid on time and the lack of any language barriers as primary reasons to play in Australia. Did those things influence your decision?

JC: These things definitely influenced my decision to play ball in Sydney. I think these factors have helped ease the transition and also have given me the ability to look into business ventures as well. They both go hand in hand. I never wanted to be an athlete that was done playing and hadn’t built himself and his post-career life in the process. So having those business opportunities in Sydney creates an advantage that I can’t necessarily get playing in other countries.

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ESPN: Why Marcus Thornton is headed down under

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