Sports 4 Dorks

At 10 p.m. all the restaurants in downtown Boise close down. Well, all the restaurants close at 10 except one. Old Chicago Pizzeria stays open ‘til midnight. Although I was not in the mood for pizza at all, I found myself at Old Chicago after my last game with my agent Bill and my teammate David Palmer (another client of Bill) discussing the week that was. My averages of 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds, a botched attempt at reading Stephen King’s "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon," a Boom Tho NBA TV feature, and shout-outs from D-League president/blogger J.C. Mathis and Darvin Ham were all topics of conversation while looking back at the D-League showcase.

We weren’t the only table engaging in such talks. At the table behind us, Dwayne Mitchell, Mo Baker, and Kevin Lyde were all seated with their agent. A few guys from a few other teams were there doing the same, scattered around the pizza joint having mini-meetings regarding the Showcase and their immediate futures.

For guys in this league, there are few possible topics of discussion: call-up potential, immediate overseas earning potential, and current playing time/team situation. Since I have a good playing time situation right now, Bill and I mainly discussed my call-up potential and overseas earning potential. Our talk actually dealt more with the issue of my call-up potential versus my overseas earning potential. How long do I spend here waiting for a call-up while these overseas deals keep getting sweeter and sweeter?

What I took away from the whole talk is that everybody has a price. I need to determine what mine is. What amount of money could make me go overseas and essentially put the NBA quest on pause. I mean, it’s not exactly like I can Tivo my NBA trail and then bloop bloop bloop it right back to where I was, but I could come back and do the summer league and all that again with a couple hundred thousand dollars in my pocket. On the other hand, I could stay here and maybe get a 10-day contract, maybe not. Maybe play in four NBA games and average like eight rebounds and never look back. Along the way I could have a lot of fun trying and if that doesn’t work out possibly win another D-League championship. It’s easy to look at guys like my former Cal teammate Joe Shipp who wasted away some of his highest earning potential days waiting to get into the NBA. However, it’s also easy to look at a guy like Justin Williams who had the exact same numbers as me last year and has been on the Sacramento Kings ever since his January call-up last season.

At the end of the day, it’s a fun position to be in. I have the choice to either make a lot of money in a very short time (four to five months) or stay here, stay hot on the radar, and get my chance. Too much Rod Benson: European adventure, or Boom Tho on the big stage? I must admit that I enjoy being in America so much more than being in Europe. Capri-Suns, "Flight of the Conchords," Six Flags, and the English language are all big reasons to stay. Hmmm … I guess I’m kind of like Dane Cook in "Good Luck Chuck." I can take a chance at Jessica Alba and possibly end up hurting, or I can be greedy and hook up with all the hot women I can handle, enjoying myself but never getting exactly what I want.

I guess I am just blessed to have the option at the end of the day. There isn’t a bad choice. Chuck had a win-win situation himself. I mean, if you saw the unrated version, then you know he REALLY had a win-win thing going on. I guess I should ask you guys. If you were me what would you do? Wait for Jessica (NBA), or keep getting lucky (big money now)? It’s not exactly like I’ll look at the results and count hanging chads and whatnot to formulate my decision. I guess I’m more or less just wondering if the answer is more obvious than it seems. Until you are actually the one having to make such decisions, you never really know. You play the hypothetical game, I live it.