10 Tips For Athletes Seeking An Overseas Basketball Contract

For those basketball athletes that aspire to play professionally in the NBA or WNBA, going undrafted can be discouraging. However, there are many opportunities to continue a basketball career beyond college in the international market. Every day, I see social media posts from young ball players, searching for opportunities to showcase their talent and earn a position with a professional club. Some of these hungry hoopers get a legitimate chance, take advantage of it, and live out the rest of their hoop dreams. Other talented players fail to understand how to navigate the shark-infested agent pool and foreign team market, and ultimately become a victim of ‘the game.’ As a former professional basketball player, I know that navigating the tricky ‘international waters’ can be a mystery, so, I have compiled the top “10 Tips For Athletes Seeking An Overseas Basketball Contract.”

1.      CREATE A BASKETBALL RESUME. I can’t tell you how many young athletes have reached out to me who do not have a basketball resume. This is an important job search document when you are marketing yourself and your accomplishments, because it allows a potential agent or club to learn all of the important details about you in one place. This resume should include your full legal name, your date of birth, your height, your weight, your position, your college, your stats, your awards and achievements, and links to your game film and highlight film. Lastly, please include a clear head shot for identification purposes.

2.      DO HOMEWORK ON POTENTIAL AGENTS. If an agent is allowed to represent a player internationally, they should have the appropriate license. Many agents do cash business under the table and misrepresent themselves as being licensed to negotiate the contract. While an athlete may jump at the chance to sign with a team, having a FIBA certification offers many protections for the agents and players in the event of any breach of contract. There are many foreign individuals that misrepresent themselves as team management, coaches, and agents through email and social media. Just because they are foreign, does not mean they don’t know proper English or how to conduct business. Never send money to someone you do not know! You can check for an agent’s FIBA certification here: https://www.fiba.basketball/find-basketball-agent.

3.      RESEARCH SPORTS AGENCY AND CLIENTELE: Because of the competitive nature of the agency business, sometimes agents are recruited to move to different firms. Make sure you ask which agency they work with and begin to gather information on the agency history and the type of clients they have represented in the past. Most agents will only want to work with you if they feel they have a good shot at getting you signed quickly. Ensure that the clients have actually signed contracts and make note of which countries they played and which level team they competed with. If the agent is also NBA or WNBA certified and has a large list of clients, make sure that they will make your career just as important as their other clients. Feel free to reach out to athletes directly to get their opinions and be sure to connect with former clients to learn why they left.

4.      CHECK OUT POTENTIAL TEAMS. Just like in high school and college, there are central directories and websites for most international clubs and leagues. They must compete against someone, and it is beneficial for your resume to have verifiable stats. Beware of new teams, that are in their first year of operation. Although they start with the best of intentions, cash flow or other ‘start-up’ issues may prevent them from fulfilling their obligations in your contract.

5.      REALIZE YOUR TALENT LEVEL. There are many opportunities to play professional sports abroad, and each country usually has multiple levels of league play – similar to the levels of NCAA sports in the U.S. They may be labelled 1st Division, 2nd Division, etc or League A, League B, etc. It is important to honestly assess your market value (what a team is willing to pay someone with your physical measurements, stats, etc), so that you have a realistic expectation of potential salary offers. It isn’t about how talented YOU think you are; it’s about what someone else is willing to pay you for your talent level. Think of the relationship between supply and demand. If there are many guards that a team can select from, you will have more competition for that position. Factors that affect your pay range are your height, position, experience, college level, and more.

6.      UNDERSTAND YOUR PAY PROGRESSION. As you grow through your career, your pay should increase – but understand that the increase is incremental. Very rarely does an athlete double their contract value from one season to the next, no matter how well they play. When you are comparing your salary, understand that it is usually quoted and paid as net of taxes. What you would have to earn to compare to that pay range domestically and before taxes would need to be higher. For example, you would need to earn more in the NBA or WNBA to equal what you would earn overseas, because the pay overseas has already had taxes taken out.

7.      KNOW THE ORDER OF OPERATIONS. If you are going to play internationally, you need a passport to travel. Many athletes have missed out on jobs, because they didn’t have their travel business in order. Apply for a passport through the United States Postal Service as soon as possible. There are services to expedite requests and even same-day processing, but you will pay a lot more and be required to travel to a handful of locations for that last-minute convenience. You can find more information about passports here: https://www.usps.com/international/passports.htm.

When you are searching for opportunities individually or through an agent, usually a team develops interest in you by viewing your profile or film. A team should NEVER ask you to send them money to sign a deal, then ask to see your film later! How are they willing to sign you, and they don’t even know if you can play? Many athletes have mistakenly sent money to these foreign impostors, because they didn’t know how things were done.

8.      CHECK CONTRACT LANGUAGE. I understand the team is foreign, but they still have people that know English. If the contract is filled with major misspellings and does not cover the big questions – who is entering the contract, the duties and obligations of each party, the payment schedule, who the governing authority is, how breach of contracts are handled, etc – think twice before signing.

I have seen contracts with fake notary stamps on them, that contain none of their verbal promises or emailed promises, or that look as if a 2nd grader wrote it. The purpose of the contract is to protect both you and the team, so please ensure that you are protected against any negligence or poor business practices.

9.      LEARN THE STANDARD CONTRACT ITEMS. Because you want the job so bad, you are likely to overlook mishaps. In a most agreements, your flight accommodations would be taken care of. Once you get to the team, you will have living accommodations, game apparel, and sometimes internet, transportation, and meals covered. Before you begin any training or play any games, you should have a physical completed. This physical is usually the action that validates your contract. Some athletes have failed drug tests or other physical testing, and they were sent back home immediately. Others have gotten to their foreign team and immediately started playing games. However, the team may change their mind, and because the player didn’t lock in their contract by completing the physical, the team can walk away because the contract was never in effect. Find out what guarantees the deal! You can find a standard FIBA contract here:

10.  SAVE MONEY FOR MORE EXPOSURE. Sometimes, trying to get exposure to play overseas basketball can be expensive! I advise you to work and save up money, while you are training and preparing, to pay the entry fees, tryout fees, and travel expenses to some of the exposure tours, tournaments, and camps. If you find yourself more than 2 years removed from college without any professional sports prospects, please consider your next career. It is hard to get a job playing professional basketball as the market has become very saturated with different levels of players. The older you get, the more competition you will face and the lower your chances are of landing a professional basketball position. Always work toward your post-career, so that detours won’t negatively affect your livelihood. 

My mission is to educate, empower, and elevate athletes, and you can learn more about my athlete arsenal at www.tywannasmith.com. I manage the lives of professional athletes through The Athlete’s Nexus, and I prepare aspiring professional athletes for the ‘lights’ through my best-selling book blueprint and athlete coaching system - both entitled ‘Surviving the Lights.’ I also offer a coaching system for business professionals who want to break into the athlete market and better serve athletes. Please email [email protected] for more information.