No Salaries for Partizan Players

Partizan, Belgrade is playing well this season in Euroleague and Adriatic League. Most games they lost were by a point or two and they still have realistic chances to go to Top 16 of Euroleague second year in a row. For a club with $1.6 mil budget, which depends almost exlusively on Serbian players, most of them from Partizan’s own school of basketball, this is great success. Moreover, as this article points out, players haven’t received two salaries due to the fact that the bank froze their account for omission to pay some interests on a loan taken in 2005. Can you image Kevin Garnett not getting his paycheck, or management having to explain to LeBron James what happened with his last payout. Can you imagine their agents allowing them to play. Not imaginable!

What motivates Partizan players? There is a real symbiosis between the club and the fans. In many forums, the fans are suggesting to the club to open one of those phone lines where every call costs let’s say $3. They promise that thousands would call for the benefit of the club. The players feed off the crowd and truly play for their fans. They even understand that foreign-born players, like Stephon Lasme, don’t have the same motivation. You don’t come from thousands of miles away to play for nothing. Serbian players don’t object if money is payed out to foreigners first and they get the leftovers. Of course, they know all too well that the day when they will be sold out to a wealthy European club or possibly go to the NBA is closer with every win, every good game they play. They know that they play for their future salary more than their current one.