Josh Childress leaves the Atlanta Hawks to play in Greece in the most unexpected story of the off season

SCOTT JACOBS

The Atlanta Hawks always find a way to end up with the short end of the stick.

Try convincing them otherwise after their top reserve, former Stanford standout Josh Childress shockingly bolted the Hawks for not another NBA team (he didn’t have that option he was a restricted free agent), but for the riches and spoils of get this, Greece basketball.

When I read over that sentence for the first time, I was kind of, how do you say it, stunned. And then there was a rumor on SI.com that read: Favre contacts Childress. And right then and there I was convinced Brett Favre was trying to ruin all sports in this great land of ours. But the Childress in that story was Viking’s head man Brad Childress, so I guess you can’t blame #4 for everything.

But back to the top story of the day: Josh.

Childress averaged 11.8 points and 4.9 rebounds last year off the bench for the Hawks, who finally made it to the post-season for the first time since 1999. Granted, they finished eight games under .500 (37-45), and were considered a chew toy for the mighty Boston Celtics when the two teams met in the first round.

But the gritty Hawks won all three games in Atlanta and pushed the Celtics to a game seven in Boston, setting up the possibility that Atlanta could pull off the greatest upset in NBA playoffs history. It was the type of series that could provide building blocks for the future, as the Hawks try to nestle back into one of the NBA’s consistent playoff teams.

So when you hear news like this, that Childress, would rather play in Greece, then Atlanta, it almost bodes the question: does Childress like playing in Summer Olympics cities? Is Beijing next?

In all seriousness, the deal is a major first. I’ve certainly never heard of a player, who was a big part of his NBA team, bolting to another country because of money. I know in hockey it happened with Jagomir Jagr, but he was a free agent, so he didn’t actually leave a team he was still a part of.

So here’s the deal: Childress is going to Greece for a three year deal that will pay $20 million. It is the most lucrative deal in European basketball and the richest in Euroleague history.

Reread that again.

I didn’t say in Greece history, I said in EUROLEAGUE history.

Players just don’t do this. Could you imagine James Posey bolting the Hornets next year for Italy? Or France? Imagine the type of money he could make.

It’s so weird that its Childress who takes the torch, as the starter of this potential trend, and it will be interesting to see if anyone follows him.

Keep in mind, when you’re a restricted free agent, you are basically property of your NBA team, and if another NBA team signs you to an offer sheet, your current team has the right to match it. However, it never said anything about international teams.

So just like that, one of the best afros the NBA had is leaving the state. No country. No continent.

Now, it should be noted that Childress can opt out of the contract after each year if he so chooses, and the Hawks still retain his NBA rights (well, sort of). They don’t however get anything whatsoever in return for his services.

Except another black eye. To a franchise that has seen many.

Just when it looked like the Hawks were ready to turn the corner they get outbidded by a team in Greece for their best bench guy. It’s bad enough to get outbid by an NBA team, but Euroleague?

As they say in Dodgeball, “ouchtown, population: you bro!”

You can’t even call the Hawks cheap on this one either. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that the Hawks were ready to offer a deal worth about $36 million, with the first year around $5.6 million. $36 million! Josh turned that down for $2 million more a year so he could play in… Greece?

He’s the fifth NBA player to make the leap to Europe this off season, but the other four, aren’t exactly the caliber of player that Childress is: Primoz Brezec, Carlos Delfino, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Bostjan Nachbar.

“I’ve talked to a few guys, and it could become a trend,” Childress said. “I’m not so sure it won’t. It’s different. We thought out of the box a little on this one.”

Out of the box? Try outside the continent!

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