War is Declared

VS 

War may be to strong a word for what is going on between Spain Basketball and Toronto Raptors. That is not to say that both parties have serious concerns. You all will recall that Jorge Garbajosa played for Spain this past summer and Raptors were not really crazy about the idea. But they came to an agreement that if Spain and Garbajosa could find insurance he could play. Well Raptors are now looking for the money from Spain as they have filed legal action to get the money from that policy. A legal battle has started between the 2 parties. I know what does this matter to you as a Raptor Fan. So MLSE is out a few dollars on a contract why should you care about that. I agree that you should not. However you do care about Jose Calderon I am guessing right?

The fact of two things is going to put Jose in the middle of this war. The first is the fact that Spain needs Calderon to play in the Olympic games in China. The Raptors need to resign Jose. However as a restricted free agent have the option to keep him no matter what. The Toronto Raptors have been painted as the bad guys in this story from day one in Spain. They wouldn't let Garbo play and were seen as the evil North American sports franchise.  Now with taking legal action against Spanish basketball that is not likely to improve that. Jose will get pressure from his country to depart from the Raptors. Most fans in Spain would love to seem him join Pau Gasol with the Lakers. But they may not realize that Raptors can prevent him from going anywhere. 

Where things get cloudy is what about the Olympics in China. Could the Raptors effectively hold Calderon hostage by not allowing him to play to make Spain pay up. Well if he was under contract and did not have his right to play for Spain in that contract than they would. However Jose will not have a contract until he resigns. I do not claim to be an expert in the way the collective bargaining agreement works. I do not know if Calderon signs a offer sheet with another team if things like playing for Spain would be part of that. I would think not that it is just about money and term that the Raptors would have to match. 

What all could happen is very confusing to be honest. But in the simple terms things just got a little more complicated in re-signing Jose Calderon. It is not that Calderon is unhappy in Toronto but the fact his entire country may not be would not sit well with him. If Raptors attempted to stop him from playing in China that also would not go to well. They even might have to buy out his friend Jorge Garbajosa which is another thing that would not make Jose happy.

The news of this legal action came out just yesterday. But you must think that Jose was made aware of the matter. I think it is a huge stretch but it could be that Raptors not getting a long with his native land could be at least on his mind. He has not played to the high level he had early in the year in replacement of Ford. Things are not going well for Calderon or the Raptors.

So things off the court are not all that good for Raptors as well. The whole Garbogate issue has become a big under the radar story through out this season. The impact on Jose Calderon and his future could be the greatest issue out of all of it. Should the trouble with Garbajosa has lead to a feud between his country and the Raptors.  It is in both Spanish Basketball and the Toronto Raptors to get this issue resolved and re-establish a relationship that will benefit both parties. No one wants to see this situation get ugly but the potential is there for a messy situation. 

Mark Cuban has always been strongly against NBA participation in international events. While I do not completely agree with Cuban, I do agree the time has come for David Stern to regulate these situations and limit the amount of time that players under contract to  can play for any other organization such as national teams. Player like Jose get put in unfair spots and deserve not to have to choose between country and team.