Former NBA guard O.J. Mayo is close to joining the Chinese Basketball Association to play for powerhouse Liaoning Flying Leopards, pending medical and other procedural clearances.
Mayo, 32, landed in the northern Chinese city of Shenyang, home to the No. 3-ranked Flying Leopards, from Taipei on Friday. He has since entered a 14-day quarantine, as mandated by government medical officials.
Fonte: ESPN.
Rado Trifunovic is no longer Slovenia National Team head coach, as confirmed by KZS president Matej Erjavec in an interview with Dnevnik.
Erjavec also confirmed that Slovenian Federation is in talks with two-times Euroleague champion with CSKA Moscow Dimitris Itoudis to lead Slovenia NT, and added that Itoudis is “honoured” by KZS interest in him.
Fonte: Dnevnik.
In an Instagram story, former NBA big man Ekpe Udoh has expressed his will to comeback to Euroleague, whether with Fenerbahce (with who he was Euroleague champion and Final Four MVP in 2017) or a different team.
Udoh is currently under a contract with Chinese side Beijing Ducks, and has made his return to China in order to be ready for the eventual restart of CBA.
Killian Hayes announced that he is entering the 2020 NBA Draft.
Hayes, 2001, has played with Ratiopharm Ulm this season averaging 11.6 points and 5.2 assists in Bundesliga and 12.8 points and 6.2 assists in EuroCup.
Fonte: Ratiopharm Ulm.
FC Barcelona have decided to cut the salaries of their athletes 70% from March 13th when the season was suspended and till the season won’t resume.
When the season restarts, Barcelona will pay the players 100% of their salaries.
Fenerbahce president Ali Koc said that six members of the team may be positive for Covid-19.
The Turkish powerhouse is still waiting for the results from the Minister of Health.
“There are no results from the Ministry of Health yet, we still waiting this. Six people were suspected of COVID-19, and there was no one to stay in the hospital, except for Cenk Renda” Koc said.
Fenerbahce is waiting for the results since last weekend.
Representatives for Joe Alexander have filed an official FIBA BAT claim for outstanding salaries and fees in excess of $100,000 against Turkish FIBA BCL club Besiktas, a source told Sportando.
Alexander has played for Besiktas in 2018-2019 averaging 11.7 points per game in BSL and 5.7 points in FIBA BCL and was one of the lone imports that didn’t leave the club during due season to late payments.
The former NBA forward has been with Le Portel and Hapoel Holont his season.
During a podcast, canadian forward Thomas Scrubb said that he would like to extend his contract with SIG Strasbourg.
“We love the city, and would like to stay there for more than two years. It is certain that there will be big changes so we are waiting to see what the club will plan”
This year Scrubb averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals in Jeep Elite, shooting 60% from the field, 42% from long range and 73% from the foul line.
Fonte: Top SIG.
Center Bojan Dubljevic (2.05m, Niksic, 10/24/1991, 28 years old) and Valencia Basket have reached an agreement for the Montenegrin international player to extend his contract with our Club for three more seasons, until June 30, 2023, with an team and player option for a fourth. In this way, Bojan Dubljevic will reach at least eleven seasons defending the Valencia Basket jersey, being the team captain from the beginning of this 2019/20 season.
Fonte: Valencia Basket.
After a unanimous vote in both countries, the Belgian Pro Basketball League and Dutch Basketball League clubs have decided to take the next step towards the creation of a BeNeLeague as of the 2021-2022 season.
This next move is the result of a three-month process under the guidance of company Hypercube during which numerous meetings were held with the most important stakeholder groups involved in an eventual BeNeLeague. Discussions were held with clubs, but also partners, press, rights holders and federations. A fan survey was also organized to which 1200 fans from both countries responded.
A number of working groups will now be formed to treat the most important aspects of the collaboration from a sports, commercial and financial point of view. Also in the area of regulations such as licensing terms both leagues will be looking to grow closer together. Finally an efficient organizational model will need to be set up including the operational functioning.
The final decision by clubs of both countries will be made in the fourth quarter of 2020. In the event of a positive decision, we can look forward to the start of the BeNeLeague mid-September 2021.
Ramses Braakman, Dutch Basketball League president: “The DBL clubs and board are always looking to improve quality from a sports, commercial and organizational point of view. Many have also long desired to increase the number of clubs in the league. We feel that a combined competition with the Belgian league will contribute largely to our ambitions. We’re especially looking forward to the next steps.”
Arthur Goethals, Pro Basketball League president: “We are delighted about the enthusiasm in both leagues in order to create a great product. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all stakeholders who have collaborated to the process so far. Much work has been done under the guidance of Hypercube, but the real work is only just beginning. Important steps now have to be taken these next few months in order to create a good basis for a great BeNeLeague as of the 2021-2022 season. In the meantime preparations are under way for the 2020-2021 EuroMillions Basketball League season. Clubs are deliberating on how to offer more basketball to fans after the current season was cancelled last week. An earlier start to the season with more games is among the options. More news to come at the end of April.”
Fonte: EuroMillions League.
Bakken Bears forward Tylor Ongwae has signed a contract extension for the 2020-21 season, the Danish team announced.
Ongwae averaged around 10 points and five rebounds per game this season in the Danish league and FIBA Europe Cup.
Fonte: Bakken Bears.
Virtus Roma guard Corey Webster has decided to leave Italy and re-join his family in New Zealand, a source told Sportando.
He was the last foreigner of Virtus Roma who was still in Italy.
The BIG3 plans to launch a quarantined, reality-show style tournament in April, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Players will be quarantined in a large home provided by the league. A basketball court will be built on site. Not only the games, but also the players’ daily lives will be captured on camera.
If a player breaks quarantine at any point during the tournament, he would be eliminated.
Fonte: Yahoo! Sports.
Olimpia Milano announced that the team has ended the self-isolation and all the members are feeling good.
The Italian team allowed all of his players to leave the city and join their families and countries.
Sergio Rodriguez, Vlado Micov, Nemanja Nedovic, Keifer Sykes and Drew Crawford are leaving to join their homes.
The players will return when and if the season resume.
Maik Zirbes and KK Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana have reached an agreement to part ways, a source told Sportando.
The German big man was averaging 5.8 points and 3 rebounds in ABA Liga and 4.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in EuroCup.
Rickey McGill and Panionios have agreed to terminate the contract in the wake of the Greek A1 league suspending the season indefinitely, a source told Sportando.
McGill, a rookie guard from Iona, averaged 7.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 24.5 minutes per game this season. In the last two games, he had back-to-back career-high 19 points against AEK Athens and Lavrio.
A general manager sent a letter to the EuroLeague teams in order to discuss the possibility of freezing the contracts with players and coaches. The news was initially reported by SDNA.
Here are some takes from the letter.
“We cannot have losses for tickets, sponsorship & other incomes and follow the contracts signed fully and no cut. We understand that agents & ELPA will not be in favor of that but we all have to be responsible & make sacrifices”.
“[Our team] decided to put all the contracts of players and coaches on hold. Meaning we stop the payments till the situation with the league is resolved. We as Euroleague club have to have a consensus in this situation hoping that it will be solved sooner rather than later.”
According to Greek website SDNA, the EuroLeague clubs are discussing the possibility of ‘freezing’ or even breaking the contracts with players and coaches.
Teams are concerned with the financial hit of the hiatus and express doubts on how they will be able to pay salaries. No decision has been made yet, SDNA reports.
An option on the table is that if the season resumes, the players will re-sign on a short-term deal. If the season is canceled, their contracts will be valid until March 15.
Fonte: SDNA.
The Korean Basketball League is close to returning after a 4-week hiatus, with games scheduled in late March, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
The games will be played behind closed doors. In Asia, the Japanese league has already resumed play while the Chinese CBA is also expected to return soon.
Fonte: ESPN.
Several players of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem are flying back to the United States, according to the Israeli website Sport5.
The Israeli teams are waiting for the Winner League to release an update on whether the season will be just postponed or canceled.
Fonte: Sport5.
The Spanish Liga ACB has officially suspended the season until April 24th.
The plan is to resume and finish this season at some point when the coronavirus outbreak quiets down.
Fonte: Liga ACB.
Partizan Belgrade is closing in on a two-year deal with Trey Drechsel, sources told Sportando.
Drechsel, a 23-year-old guard/forward from Grand Canyon University, has played in the Serbian KLS as a rookie this season, averaging 18 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for KK Mladost Zemun.
With the season currently suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, EuroLeague team Asvel has allowed its players to return home.
Team activities are also suspended for the next few weeks.
The players are expected back when the season resumes.
Fonte: BeBasket.
The Chinese Basketball Association could resume the season without foreigners, Sportando has learned. No decision has been made yet.
The Chinese government said that all people that arrive in China are obliged to make a two-week quarantine.
BK Olomoucko’s LJ Rose was allowed to leave the Czech Republic and fly back to the United States, Sportando has learned.
The Czech NBL season is suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Israeli Winner League board of directors held a meeting to discuss whether or not the rest of the season should be canceled. An official decision is expected on Monday.
According to reporter Moshe Barda, shutting down the league seems inevitable. In this case, the national title would be assigned to the league-leader Maccabi Tel Aviv, while the last-placed team Maccabi Ashdod would be relegated to the second division.
Fonte: Moshe Barda.
James Batemon is leaving BK Ogre of the Estonian/Latvian league, a source told Sportando, due to the coronavirus outbreak in Europe.
The rookie was averaging 17.3 points per game in the league.
Virtus Bologna announced that Julian Gamble has been allowed to leave Italy and return to USA.
The big man will be back when the season resumes.
Bryon Allen and KK Zadar have parted ways, a source told Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
The guard was averaging 18.2ppg in ABA Liga with 4.1rpg and 3apg while in Croatian League he had 11.9ppg
Bryon Allen and KK Zadar have parted ways, a source told @Sportando.
Allen was averaging 18.2ppg in ABA Liga with 4.1rpg and 3apg while in Croatian League he had 11.9ppg— Emiliano Carchia (@Carchia) March 14, 2020
Rick Pitino confirmed to College Hoops Insider Jon Rothstein that he will be Iona’s next coach: “I’m incredibly excited. I started my journey in basketball in Manhattan. I’m now able to end my journey in New Rochelle. I’ve admired the stellar job that Tim Cluess has done. I’m going to try and carry that on and elevate it to prominence. I missed college basketball when I was in Greece. I’m back home where it all started. It’s the greatest feeling in the world”
Rick Pitino on Iona: “I’m incredibly excited. I started my journey in basketball in Manhattan. I’m now able to end my journey in New Rochelle. I’ve admired the stellar job that Tim Cluess has done. I’m going to try and carry that on and elevate it to prominence.”
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 14, 2020
Pitino continued: “I missed college basketball when I was in Greece. I’m back home where it all started. It’s the greatest feeling in the world.”
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 14, 2020
UPDATE: Iona announced Rick Pitino as the new head basketball coach.
Welcome to #GAELNATION, Coach Pitino!
READ: https://t.co/fp5azFixcH pic.twitter.com/eK2qOdBlDJ
— Iona Men's Hoops (@IonaGaelsMBB) March 14, 2020