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Denmon quoted in SI about China basketball
Posted on: May 18, 2020 at 11:12:44 CT
FIJItiger MU
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https://www.si.com/nba/2020/05/08/cba-stalled-out-what-it-means-for-the-nba
“In my opinion, I felt like they were rushing to try to start the league when they weren’t going to start anyway,” says Zhejiang Golden Bulls guard Marcus Denmon, a second-round Spurs pick out of Missouri in 2012. “For what reason? I’m not sure. But I feel like for them to say, come over here to ground zero during this pandemic, without even a guaranteed date to start, put you in jeopardy by making you get on a plane and travel … I didn’t think it was fair for the players.”
Denmon’s big beef is over the ramifications he was told he would face if he didn’t return to China: not only withheld salary, but a possible multiyear ban from the league. Multiple sources say these threats were never communicated in an official memo, but rather through the shadowy game of telephone that often defines information flow in China.
But when Denmon went to fly back to Zhejiang from his home in Kansas City in late March, toting two suitcases full of granola bars, video games, exercise bands and other provisions for his upcoming quarantine, he discovered at the airport that China had just closed its borders to foreigners. “I can’t say I dodged a bullet, because all of the Americans who did go back, they’re not sick or ill. They’ve just been there for no reason,” Denmon says. “But who knows, maybe I could’ve been on a plane with someone who was sick. What I can say is this: I felt that it was premature and selfish to decide on those types of rules.”
Though Denmon was turned away in transit, he says that Zhejiang has withheld two months’ salary, worth several hundred thousand dollars. Denmon says his team, the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, owe him two months of salary.
“In my opinion, I felt like they were rushing to try to start the league when they weren’t going to start anyway,” says Zhejiang Golden Bulls guard Marcus Denmon, a second-round Spurs pick out of Missouri in 2012. “For what reason? I’m not sure. But I feel like for them to say, come over here to ground zero during this pandemic, without even a guaranteed date to start, put you in jeopardy by making you get on a plane and travel … I didn’t think it was fair for the players.”
Denmon’s big beef is over the ramifications he was told he would face if he didn’t return to China: not only withheld salary, but a possible multiyear ban from the league. Multiple sources say these threats were never communicated in an official memo, but rather through the shadowy game of telephone that often defines information flow in China.
But when Denmon went to fly back to Zhejiang from his home in Kansas City in late March, toting two suitcases full of granola bars, video games, exercise bands and other provisions for his upcoming quarantine, he discovered at the airport that China had just closed its borders to foreigners. “I can’t say I dodged a bullet, because all of the Americans who did go back, they’re not sick or ill. They’ve just been there for no reason,” Denmon says. “But who knows, maybe I could’ve been on a plane with someone who was sick. What I can say is this: I felt that it was premature and selfish to decide on those types of rules.”
Though Denmon was turned away in transit, he says that Zhejiang has withheld two months’ salary, worth several hundred thousand dollars. Denmon says his team, the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, owe him two months of salary.
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Denmon quoted in SI about China basketball - FIJItiger MU - 5/18 11:12:44