British Ben Berlin Bound?

In what seems to be a scary trend among NBA 6th men, the Chicago Bull's Ben Gordon is reportedly interested in playing a little closer to home. When asked about playing in Europe for possibly more money, Gordon said, "Josh did it. It just depends on what the individual wants or what he can put up with. I'm from London, so it's definitely something that seems like it would be interesting.'"

The Josh referred to is Josh Childress, a stud bench player who left the Atlanta Hawks to play with a Greek team. While I certainly don't blame anyone leaving historically bad Atlanta, I'm afraid Childress may have just opened the floodgates...well at least cracked it a little bit.

I don't think there's any worry that European clubs will be swiping starters anytime soon, but there could be some very thin NBA benches in the next few years. A significant financial gap exists between NBA starters and NBA reserves, and with the dollar down and the euro up, Europeans are finding the time right to offer lucrative salaries to semi-stars. With the addition of extra cash flow, the players get to drop the semi label, and be treated as stars.

There are significant downsides to the move of course. Language barriers, cultural differences, downgraded facilities, and in some cases violent surroundings. But the more players that do defect to the Euro Leagues, the wider the crack in the gate gets, making it even easier for players to make the jump.

In Ben Gordon's case, I think he stays. The Bulls are looking to build a championship team around Derrick Rose, and Gordon would be a pretty nice wing-man for him to have in the coming years, so I think they pay up. As for the rest of the league, only time and the depth of Euro owner's pockets will tell if this is to become a serious issue for David Stern and the NBA.

More on Gordon at The Chicago Daily Herald