Lethal offer for Lee

In the business of professional sports, team loyalty is becoming a thing of the past. Gone are the days of Jerry West, John Stockton, Magic Johnson, John Havlicek and Bill Russell who played only for one franchise throughout their careers. Now, players move in and out of teams, depending on which pasture is greener.

Sometimes, it’s not the players who want out. Teams aren’t expected to be loyal to players if players aren’t expected to be loyal to teams. Danny Ildefonso and Danny Seigle, for instance, spent their best years in the PBA with San Miguel Beer but in the twilight of their careers, found other homes. You can’t blame a team for shoring up or rebuilding with youth or preparing for the future. So, too, you can’t blame a player for exploring options to enhance his stature in the league.

Paul Lee just finished his third year in the PBA. He took Rain Or Shine to two of three Finals this past season and although the Painters failed to nail a crown, the Lethal Weapon gained acclaim for being armed and dangerous. Here was a hybrid of Atoy Co and Lim Eng Beng with the swagger of a swashbuckling import. Even Gilas head coach Chot Reyes took notice of Lee’s emergence and named him to the national squad that played at the FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan last month. Lee made quite an impression in Wuhan that he was eventually included in the roster for the FIBA World Cup in Spain and the Asian Games in Incheon.

Lee’s contract with Rain Or Shine expires on Sunday. He’s been offered a renewal at the max rate of P420,000 a month. Because the PBA has set a ceiling for salaries, no team may put out more money on the table. Just the same, the league recognizes Rain Or Shine’s right of first refusal over a player with an expired contract. In the PBA, there is no such thing as an unrestricted free agent unless he is released by his team. A team may hang on to a player’s signing rights until after he has played seven seasons, an escape clause that will be in effect starting with this year’s rookies. However, while a player may opt to leave his team on his seventh year, that team has the privilege of offering a salary 20 percent above the cap. All other teams may sign up the player only up to the max.

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Lee’s agent Lawrence Chongson said he is entertaining offers from other teams. Lee himself said he may switch. But Rain Or Shine officials are wondering what is motivating Lee to move out when he can’t wangle a salary higher than the max which is what the Painters are offering. There is talk that the San Miguel Group and the MVP Group are jockeying for his services but officials from both camps denied a push for Lee. There is also talk that Lee is being offered a contract to play in China. If Lee decides to play in China, the PBA is unable to prevent him from leaving. If Lee decides to play for a PBA team other than Rain Or Shine without the Painters’ go-signal, commissioner Chito Salud has the authority to step in and arbitrate in the event the legitimacy of the transfer is questioned.

While it’s a free country and Lee enjoys the liberty of deciding his career path, there are PBA rules that constrain his movement if he wants to stay in the league. A player who wants to play in the PBA must abide by the league rules – that is non-debatable.

A PBA team that makes direct overtures to a player with an existing live contract is guilty of tampering. If a team wants to make a trade offer, then it has to go through the player’s mother team, not through the player directly or his agent. If it is found out that a PBA team has directly tried to negotiate a contract for Lee before his Rain Or Shine contract expires, sanctions will be imposed.

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If Lee wants out of Rain Or Shine and hopes to sign with another PBA team, then Salud must summon the involved parties to find a solution to the problem without compromising league rules. No team will hold on to a player who no longer wants to play for that team but obviously, the team will demand to be compensated if the player leaves.

Every player in the PBA will want to be in Lee’s shoes. He’s in demand and he has the luxury of finding the team that he can lead to a championship. But just as the player’s rights must be protected by the league, so must a team’s rights. If Lee leaves Rain Or Shine, Salud will make sure there is appropriate consideration. If Lee moves to Talk ‘N’ Text, he could trade places with Jayson Castro or if he transfers to San Miguel Beer, he could be swapped for JunMar Fajardo. A team that hopes to end up with Lee must be prepared to surrender someone or something of equal value for his rights. Expansion franchise Blackwater has gone on record as expressing interest in Lee and is prepared to give up its first round picks in the next two years in exchange.

Even Paul Pierce, a well-loved Boston legend, left the Celtics and LeBron James went from Cleveland to Miami and back to his home state. Michael Jordan himself wasn’t exempted from a transfer. His best years were with the Chicago Bulls but he retired with the Washington Wizards. In pro basketball, there is little room for sentimentality. The reality is that everything now boils down to the bottom line. In today’s world, loyalty has taken a back seat to economics.