By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
While most stories fall into the usual stereotypes about European basketball, crazy fans, demanding coaches and even racism – and those stereotypes are not unfounded – one of them stands out.
According to it, a current US player who is in Greece revealed that his team’s owner had bet against his team in a Greek league game.
The player who spoke on the condition of anonymity revealed the following: “I play in Greece and this story is pretty recent. I had been playing for three months and I had yet to be paid one dime. We were playing against one of the traditionally powerful clubs in all of Greece. Our team’s budget pales in comparison to their budget and roster composition. We were fighting and clawing and playing our best basketball, and we found ourselves down by only five points to this powerhouse club. That’s when the confusion started. The owner storms into the locker room upset and says, ‘What are you all doing? You guys should be down by eight points or more! I’m losing money!’ I’m a competitor at heart and I was obviously confused. I can’t play like that. I play to win. The owner replied, ‘This is how you’ll get your monthly salary. You must lose by this deficit or you won’t receive your salary.’ I can only imagine the ridiculous extent of bribery and corruption behind the scenes. Not surprisingly, I still didn’t receive my money, so I threatened to leave via breach of contract. It wasn’t until I sat out of practices and threatened to sign with another potential suitor in a different country that they finally paid me one month’s salary of the three they owed me. I’m still two months behind. True story. And stories like this occur every day throughout Europe.”