NBA not worried as role players bolt for Europe

Josh Childress' decision to leave the NBA and sign with a team in Greece has been met with a dismissive harrumph from the league office and hysteria from those who seem to think are next. The truth lies somewhere in between. It's neither an international crisis nor a dust mite on David Stern's blazer, but it is the first step in what could become a seismic shift of basketball talent away from the NBA. "If soccer was able to bring David Beckham to the United States, I don't think you're that far from one of the superstars going to play in Europe," said Rade Filipovich, an international basketball expert and agent for the Bill Duffy Agency, which represents a cross-section of top American and international NBA players. "People maybe are going to call me a dreamer. but FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, right now, they can compete... [read full story]