Wang Article Finished, but still Cloudy

[Chef Ed]

I have finished the first part of the column on Wang, and you are more than welcome to log on to dallasmavs.net, and give it a read. There are some things that you already know, and some you may not, but as I have said before, it goes a lot deeper than just Basketball.
I will say this. I don't think I have ever spent so much time on hold than I have the last couple of days. No wonder the INS, the Chinese Embassy, and the US Embassy have problems. They don't have enough people mannning the phones. I guess if they have idiots like me calling all the time I don't blame them (smile).......

[Chef Ed]

Sky's are still Cloudy

Still distancing themselves from Wang, the
Maverick's continue to be the politically correct party by
keeping quiet on exactly what it mean's by getting your
house in order.

By Chef Ed
staff writer
www.dallasmavs.net

September 6, 2002


Dallas:
David Stern announced a couple of weeks ago that Wang
Zhi Zhi was more than welcome to participate in the upcoming season as long as he had his house in order, and his personal problems taken
care of. Well, I'm not quite sure what that means, and after two weeks of digging, I'm still not exactly sure what getting your house in order refers to, but as the weeks have passed, more, and more questions are raised, and the Maverick's continue to distance themselves from a growing problem that has taken a whole new life of it's own.

For the last two seasons, the Dallas Maverick's have spent time, and money, and an enormous amount of energy training, and teaching Wang Zhi Zhi how to play basketball in the NBA. Now we all understand that whenever you take on this responsibility there is always the chance that in the end the player that you are developing will bolt for more money, or for a better opportunity to play on a different team. With all free agents that's a risk that you take. You only hope that the time you spent was well taken, and the player appreciates everything you have done for them, and re-signs with the team that put them in the position to begin with.

Unfortunately in this case, it has absolutely nothing to do with money, and it has nothing to do with the opportunity to get more playing time, or start for another franchise. This is a case where an individual was given the opportunity to play for not only an NBA team, but play basketball in the United States. It is a case where an individual has decided not to return to a country that was once his home, and now is considering him something other than the star that once was.

Two years ago the Dallas Maverick's drafted Wang from China. Now in order for the Mav's to offer him a contract, he had to end his relationship with his former team, the Bayi Rockets. He did not end his relationship with the China Basketball Association. I am not sure, because of the Maverick's unwillingness to offer information, if the Maverick's had to buy out his contract with the Rockets. As in soccer, if a player want's to go somewhere else, and play it is up to the team that is pursuing him to pay the team he is leaving some sort of compensation. Sometimes as much as $300,000.00. Now it is not clear weather, or not the Mav's had to pay the Rocket's some sort of compensation, but the end result was that the Mav's obtained his rights, and offered him a two year deal, and Wang was allowed to play in the United States.

Now the fun begins. The agreement, which Donnie Nelson has stated that no agreement was made, was that during those two years that he was under contract with the Maverick's, that Wang was to be made available to go back to China, and participate with the China Basketball team. That means that he was to be made available to play, and practice for the World games, and the Olympics, and the Asian games. Now understand this. The only responsibility that the Mav's had was to make him available. It was not the Maverick's responsibility to make him return, only to make him available, which is the reason for Donnie's comment's pertaining to "No agreement."

As long as Wang was under contract to the Mav's, it was the Mav's responsibility to live up to that agreement. Which they did? Every year he was here, he was given leave to go back to China, and participate when the CBA instructed. Again, understand the Maverick's complied with all the requirement's that the CBA instilled. Understand also, that during his contract Wang lived up to those requirements. Only when his contract was up did Wang decide that he was not going to live to those requirements any more.

Up until now, my opinion of Wang has been that he is selfish, and that he had no respect for the team that put him in this position to begin with. That may be not all the way accurate. After pursuing this column, it appears to me that although Wang has done the Mav's a disservice by doing what he is, he waited until his contract was up with Dallas so not to involve the Maverick's as much as possible. That isn't selfish, it is the responsible thing to do. So for that I apologize to Wang for any comment's that I may have made to contrary.

Wang had a window of about a month to report to China after the Maverick's finished the season. After that time had expired the China Government, or the CBA sent many letters to the Mav's asking them where he was, and why he hadn't reported. This is where the conflict starts, and the politics begin. I will repeat this one more time. When Wang's contract was up, the Maverick's had absolutely no obligation to the CBA, or the China Government. It isn't there responsibility to make Wang do anything. Just make him available when the CBA asked. Now that his contract is up, it isn't the Maverick's responsibility to even make him available.

It is apparent that even if the Maverick's don't admit this that the China Basketball Association was holding the Maverick's responsible for him not returning. Probably the reason that Donnie went to Denver last month to talk to them. The Maverick's only responsibility now is that if someone offers him a contract they have first right of refusal. Unfortunately for Wang, no one is offering. Now that may be because of the way free agency is going this year, and a lot of free agents aren't receiving offers, or it may be because of some unknown consequences
that no one is being made aware of which may be the reason teams are backing off on him.

Over the last couple of days, I have been on hold for hours trying to talk with the US Embassy, the Chinese Embassy, and INS to find out exactly what the requirements are for Wang to not only work in the US, but to stay here. So far the only information that I have received is that a visa only allows you to enter the US. It is unclear what type of Visa he acquired, and it is unclear of weather or not the Chinese Government is going to revoke it, and then that also opens another can of worms. At that point, your talking about asylum, and about relationships with two Governments. It is also unclear what relationship the CBA, and the China Government have. No one wants to give up any information, and I am convinced that because of this the Maverick's, and other teams in the NBA have backed off. In turn that would also explain the comments by David Stern. From the Maverick's point of view, all obligations have been met, and now it's up to Wang to decide what he is going to do.

It is a very long process to find out about visa's. It is also a long process to find out about the term "Defection" which I have thrown around loosely for the last month. As I said, I could have spent all day getting definitions of what his case involves, and as the day's pass I will continue to dig until I find out exactly what is involved, but without information from the Maverick's, or Wang's representatives it is very unclear exactly what is involved. It would be premature to make assumptions about any of this, and it would also be a disservice to Dallas Maverick's to make assumptions that have no validity. But one thing is for certain. All of this has nothing to do with Basketball any more. It goes much deeper than that, and from Donnie's comments the other day on the Mike Fisher Show it appears that the Maverick's are close to making a stand one way or another. Remember that they have done their part, and lived up to whatever agreement's, if any that were made. It is not the responsibility of the Dallas Maverick's to make Wang Zhi Zhi do anything. All they can do is sit and wait. but it appears to this staff writer that they are getting tired of just sitting, and they want to find a way to compensate themselves for the time they have spent. As the day's go by, I will continue my quest to find out exactly what type of legalities go into allowing Mr. Wang to stay in this country, and play.

Have a nice day, and Thanks for playing.....

Remember September 11, 2001
God Bless the USA