China Rumors
Chinese fintech giant Ant Group said on Tuesday it had entered a strategic partnership with the NBA league in China that would see the two cooperate in areas such as video content, program broadcasting and membership. Fans in China would have access to NBA video content on Alipay, the hugely popular payments app owned by Ant Group, the company said in a statement.
5w
Mac McClung turned down offers from Turkey and China last summer
McClung faced this dilemma last summer. He could have made over a million dollars playing either for Fenerbahce (Turkey) or the Shanghai Sharks (China). Fenerbahce is one of the top teams in the EuroLeague, which contains the top clubs from all of the top European domestic leagues. Outside of the NBA, it is the best league in the world. Six of Fenerbahce’s top eight scorers are American, including former college stars Johnathan Motley (Baylor) Nigel Hayes-Davis (Wisconsin), Carsen Edwards (Purdue) and Nick Calathes and Scottie Wilbekin, both former Florida Gators.
McClung passed on the opportunity to play in Europe, and even on the Exhibit-10 deal, was making less than six figures in the G League. But the G League is an easier path to the NBA. It was during a conversation with Zac Ervin, another close friend from Gate City, that McClung realized he was going to stay in the United States. “I still believe going to a Fenerbahce also can propel your career back here in the NBA. So I’m not taking that out of the picture at all,” McClung said. “When you have multiple million-dollar offers, you’re like, ‘That could change my life and my family’s life forever.’ So I wanted to take that into consideration. But (Ervin) called me and was like, ‘Mac, you’re all or nothing, man.’ ”
