Dee Brown is unemployed no longer. Granted, his paychecks will be paid in Turkish lira instead of American dollars, but paper is paper, right? Brown explains in his blog:Next season I will be playing in Turkey and will be leaving this wednesday, yeah I know real soon and short notice. I was disappointed at first because I wanted to play on a NBA team and stay in the states so I can stay by my family. At the end of day though I'm blessed to play basketball and this is what I love to do. ... I will continue to work and believe that God wouldn't just give up on me this is just a small bump in the road. Playing overseas isn't as bad as I thought, great talent, and I will still be seen by NBA teams.Turkey is awfully far removed from your average NBA stop, but (at least culturally) so is Salt Lake City. It's not yet known which team he's landed with, but he'll likely have at least a few American teammates. Turkish powerhouse Efes Pilsen (Mehmet Okur's former team), for example, has five Americans on the roster (including former NBAers Loren Woods and Rashad Wright), not to mention an Israel-American coach in David Blatt.
There are 16 teams in the Turkish Basketball League, including eight based in Istanbul, a city with more than 10 million residents. So while Brown may be going overseas, he's hardly playing in the sticks -- like he said, if he performs well, he will get noticed by NBA scouts, meaning his dream of playing in front of his friends and family is anything but dead. (Or, maybe this is a Charlie Bell-inspired ruse, announcing that he's headed overseas simply to renew league-wide interest ...)
Previously on FanHouse:
Dee Brown, Unemployed Point Guard, Burgeoning Rapper
Dos Larry Miller Want Dee Brown Out of Utah?
Is Dee Brown Out of a Job?
