Front Page of yahoo.com, NBA seeks clearance to sign Iranian

[Darvish11]

interesting discussion on this on insidehoops.com

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99953

Originally Posted by WuTangWizard

Originally Posted by worldbefree
You mad bro? Did I offend your peoples?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doranku
You, my friend, are a joke.

Yo Worldbefree, I think we just found another suspect with this cat... Doranku is it???

Does ISH have a "report terrorist" button??? All i see is "report bad post"

THIS IS FAR MORE SERIOUS

looooool this was the funniest thing ive ever read

(he was being sarcastic)

[mehdi13]

he shud come to la
bynum gasol and ehadadi

[KasraKhan]

what happened to Jaber Rouzbahani btw?

2-3 years ago, He had a few NBA scouts look at him and they didnt approve of his game and said he didnt not meet NBA level.

That consequently shattered his confidence and he's never been the same player since. I call it the Hamed Kavianpour Syndrome

[Nokhodi]

2-3 years ago, He had a few NBA scouts look at him and they didnt approve of his game and said he didnt not meet NBA level.
That consequently shattered his confidence and he's never been the same player since. I call it the Hamed Kavianpour Syndrome

No, the Kavianpour syndrome is getting caught doping when you finally have a chance to show yourself in a semi-decent league (Turkey).

[Darvish11]

he shud come to la
bynum gasol and ehadadi

http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/ar...8/1274131.aspx

Trading with the enemy Posted: Monday, August 18, 2008 3:51 PM by Victor Limjoco

By Robert Windrem, Investigative Producer/Special Projects


Hamed Ehadadi is a 7’2” center for the Iranian Olympic basketball team. He has soft hands, a good attitude and a desire to be the first Iranian player in the NBA -- the Persian Yao Ming, so to speak.

“It is my dream to play in the NBA,” he’s told anyone who wants to listen.

As the Olympics’ leading rebounder, the 23-year-old has attracted the attention of “two or three teams” in the league, his coach says. He’s even reportedly spoken with Marc Iavaroni, the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.

But as tends to happen with any issue involving Iran and the United States, there’s a problem.

On Friday, the NBA sent urgent letters to all 30 of its teams advising them that even talking to Ehadadi would be a violation of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic -- what used to be known as trading with the enemy.

“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,” said the letter from the NBA’s general counsel. “We have been advised that a federal statue prohibits a person or organization in the United States from engaging in business dealings with Iranian nationals.”

So now, the NBA is forced to seek a license from the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to do any business with Ehadadi. If a license is granted, any NBA team could negotiate with Ehadadi and his agent (yes, even Iranian ball players have agents).

A league spokesman confirms that the OFAC license has been applied for. But the NBA doesn’t know how quickly Treasury will rule on its license request. If it takes too long, Ehadadi’s chances could suffer. While teams haven’t begun training camp—and won’t until the first week of October, they are filling out their rosters, and roster spaces are at a premium.

A State Department spokesman tells NBC News, "the State Department's role in any case like this is to advise OFAC and to provide foreign policy guidance." The department determines its "foreign policy guidance" after collecting information across the US government from those involved in the Iran sanctions process. They say they are still in the process of collecting that info and have not advised Treasury yet.

The Iranians apparently don’t have a problem with Ehadadi playing even for Memphis, one of the NBA’s worst teams in one of its smaller markets). Mehran Hatami, the assistant coach for the Iranian team and Ehadadi’s translator, told Yahoo! Sports “It’s our pleasure for one player from Iran to one day play in the NBA,” Hatami said. “I am sure he will play there this season because he has played great (at the Olympics).”

An Iranian diplomat at the nation’s UN Mission in New York told NBC News the prospect of Ehdadi throwing down dunks across America was “great” and pronounced that he was thrilled.

He also described Ehadadi as a “good boy.” Iran has no reciprocal law that would prevent Ehadadi from doing business with an NBA team.

What are the chances the US will grant a license? Pretty good, say foreign policy analysts. After all, the State Department approved letting the NBA invite the Iranian Olympic Team to the Rocky Mountain Revue in July as part of its people-to-people policy. The team, including Ehadadi, played against rookie teams from the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz in Salt Lake. It was there, in fact, that NBA scouts got their first look at Ehadadi. Previously, he had played for a professional Iranian team, Saba Battery.

Moreover, like the team's participation in the summer league, the signing of Ehadadi also would be seen as the latest (if only symbolic) example of a thaw in relations between the US and Iran. Ehadadi himself has expressed enthusiasm about his time in the United States, telling reporters, "I like America."

How good is he?

"I think he has a good chance to play in the NBA," said Andrew Bogut. Bogut, an Australian who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA and has played against Ehadadi in the Olympics, told reporters, "He needs to get a bit stronger. Once he hits the weight room, he'll be a pretty tough horse."

NBA scouts say Ehadadi has only a small chance of making the league, speculating that although he works well around the basket and can shoot out to 15 feet, he would likely struggle against anyone more athletic -- "which is just about everybody," offered one. A second scout was more encouraged after watching Ehadadi drop 21 points and grab 16 rebounds against defending Olympic champion Argentina.

Both scouts said the best Ehadadi could hope for is a non-guaranteed contract. If one can be negotiated—and he makes the team—Ehadadi would be paid $442,000, about 50 times the annual salary for the average Iranian.

Right now, the Grizzlies appear to be in the lead, but watch out for the two Los Angeles teams, the Lakers and the Clippers. The city is the center of Iranian culture in the US, with more than 300,000 Iranians and Iranian-Americans. They don’t call Los Angeles “Tehrangeles” for nothing.

Robert Windrem is the Investigative Producer/Special Projects at NBC Nightly News and recently traveled to Iran with Brian Williams to interview President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. He also has a passion for basketball.


lol at the writer desrcription at the end too

[Mr.Click]

wiki says if he goes to Raptors he won't have any problems...

come on Raptors! bring him on! and I'll go cheer for him

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/07/...News_arti.html

seriously!...

if Raptors sign him it will be a great marketing move with great return on investment as the Iranian-Canadians will pour into the Air Canada Center just to see him in action against the big boys...

[OFFSIDE_1]

http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/ar...8/1274131.aspx
Robert Windrem is the Investigative Producer/Special Projects at NBC Nightly News and recently traveled to Iran with Brian Williams to interview President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. He also has a passion for basketball.
lol at the writer desrcription at the end too

there is way more than 300,000 iranians here. As much as I would love to see him play in the NBA and do well, I just don't think he is athletic enough. He has a much better chance of succeeding in europe.

[Agha_Bijan]

Iranian Basketball Star not allowed to play in the NBA!

http://www.sport1.de/de/ussport/ussp...ikel_6693.html
The article says:
The Iranian Center Hamed Ehadadi has played an awesome Olympics and many NBA teams want to pick him for coming season.
The NBA wrote a letter to all NBA teams that it's not allowed the have commercial relationships to Iran.
So the Iranian star isn't allowed to play in the NBA.

One of the comments says, that over 10 American Basketball player and Wrester live and play in Iran for Iranian teams.
But for Iranian it's not allowed to join US Teams.

[Super Shojaei]

well that sucks, my name is Bijan 2

[Milad-69]

That is true, there were a couple of good players like Tony Madison
playing in Iranian teams and they enjoyed their time.
So I donno why NBA are acting like *****es.

[Ali]

is there a international basketball federation or somthing like FIFA for basketball?? coz if there is we can flood their email.

[Behzad12]

is there a international basketball federation or somthing like FIFA for basketball?? coz if there is we can flood their email.

yeah its called FIBA. not sure if they can do anything about it. this is political rather than the league so FIBA cant really do anything about it.

[sullakh]

What idiots, how is he a company, that they can't do business? WTF does a citizen of a country have to do with the government?

A LOT ...FOR EXAMPLE...SEE CHINA AND THE CHISE DUDE (YAO MING?) ...CHINESE GOBMENT TAX LIKE A HUGE AMOUNT OF HIS PAYCK...

WHY WOULD U.S. OR any of its corporation want to pay iran direct (or as direct of employing a player) ???? it's in line w/ their current policy (no matter how wrong or rite)