# Hands Off Ehadadi



## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

Interesting article from Yahoo! Sports:


> BEIJING – As interest has grown in the NBA over signing 7-foot-2 Iranian Olympian Hamed Ehadadi, the league office has sent a letter to its 30 teams instructing that they are forbidden to even discuss a contract with Ehadadi, Yahoo! Sports has learned.
> 
> In the letter, which was sent Friday, NBA legal counsel wrote: “It has come to our attention that representatives of Hamed Ehadadi, an Iranian basketball player, may be contacting NBA teams to discuss the possibility of signing Mr. Ehadadi to an NBA player contract.
> 
> ...


 - Adrian Wojnarowski http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/basketball/news?slug=aw-nbairan081608&prov=yhoo&type=lgns


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

Yahoo! Sports now says the NBA has notified all NBA teams that they can enter negotiations with and sign Ehadadi. http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/be...w-nbairanianplayers082008&prov=yhoo&type=lgns


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## Gardan (Jan 7, 2004)

Would be a basketball boom in Iran as in China due to Ehadadi signing?


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

It could well see a surge in popularity, but I doubt the NBA is overly concerned either way. The markets the NBA obviously is courting are China and more recently India, due to the well-over 2 billion people those two nations hold. Iran, according to Wiki (admittedly not always the most accurate source) has about 70 million, meaning it's less than 1/4 the population of the USA. Every little bit of TV revenue or merch sales is nice, but I don't know if the NBA will care all that much about it. (Plus, doing business with Iran is a difficult thing for America, due to its status regarding state-sponsored terrorism and continued alleged pursuance of nuclear weapons.)


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## Gardan (Jan 7, 2004)

Yeah, and I was thinking that could be hard to be popular in a nation so crazy for soccer like Iran. Same for India, cricket there is a religion... i've said more than soccer in Spain or England (OMG ¿that's possible? )

By the way... what do u think about Ehadadi as player now?


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## luther (Nov 2, 2007)

Gardan said:


> By the way... what do u think about Ehadadi as player now?


After watching several full games and parts of others, I do feel like I have more to go by than when I only saw that youtube clip from the Asian games (or whichever tourney it was against Lebanon). I think he's talented, and certainly an NBA-caliber prospect. But I don't think he's strong enough or just well-coached enough at this point to be a competitive NBA player. Whatever team signs him is going to have to be patient and take a couple of years on him to get much of anything at all. If he were 18 or 19 and going into college or something, I'd be thrilled about him. But he's going to be 25 before he's a rotation player, I'd guess. Decent athleticism, nice offensive feel for the game. But he doesn't move with confidence or authority as often as you'd like from a guy his size. His guards certainly didn't do him any favors, by the way ...


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## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

Grizz have snapped him up. Looking forward to seeing him in the NBA  ... I agree with all of what Luther said so I won't bore you and repeat it ...


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