Βy Giorgos Orfanakis / info@eurohoops.net
The level of basketball in China doesn’t claim laurels of quality, neither on a national level nor on a club level, but the list of players choosing to leave the NBA or Europe to play in the Asian country is getting longer all the time.
There are several reasons for this. If we had to choose two, then certainly the (very) high earnings, combined with the reduced requirements compared to the EuroLeague, would certainly stand out.
With Sonny Weems, Keith Langford and Erick Green ready to follow, Eurohoops presents the most important cases of players who chose not continue in Europe, despite the fact that they had very good offers in their hands, preferring instead the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association).
Aaron Jackson – 31 years old
The case of Aaron Jackson is one of the most talked about and interesting of the summer! Coming off the best season of his career in the EuroLeague, the American guard automatically became one of the most sought after free agents on this year’s summer market.
The player was very high on the lists of Anadolu Efes, Barcelona, and Olympiacos, with these three teams submitting a formal collaboration proposal. At the same time, Jackson was waiting for developments regarding the NBA, which he never concealed was his greatest desire, as it is for most players who are born in the USA.
And yet! The team that managed to win his signature was the Beijing Ducks, who offered him a one-year contract for 2.3 million dollars and convinced him. For the record, Jackson chose to leave the EuroLeague after a season averaging 7.6 points, 3.6 assists, 1.4 rebounds and about 22 minutes of playing time.