By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes coach Ergin Ataman spoke to the Greek State Sports Radio ERA Sport, addressing a possible EuroLeague salary cap and how it should be imposed in order to be fair for all teams after the heavy financial toll of the pandemic that has halted sports action.
“All teams will be affected. We should all learn from this. Budgets should be balanced in accordance with the profits. EuroLeague has to find a way to reach a balance with a salary cap. It’s not possible for some teams to have such huge budgets, especially since this pandemic will take a great financial toll on everyone”, Ataman said.
Ataman also spoke about the rumor mill of Shane Larkin’s extension with the team, denying the lucrative 7.7M deal, which resonates with his statement about the salary cap.
“Before the quarantine, he talked with Efes‘ management and they were close to reaching a deal, I don’t know if he signed or not. The only way for him to leave Efes is to find a contract in the NBA where he will have a major role, to play 20-25 minutes and be the starting point guard, or at least have an important role. Otherwise, I think he will play for two more years with Efes. These numbers, about a 7.7M deal, are not true. Of course, he deserves one of the biggest contracts in the team because he’s our best player, but as far as I know, these numbers are not true”, Ataman added.