Greek team Olympiakos, fresh off its’ acquisation of Hawks guard Josh Childress, is set to raise the bar in European basketball.  Olympiakos is set to offer Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant a three year deal worth $83 million in tax free money.  In addition to this contract, Bryant will be hooked up with a villa on the Mediterranean, his own boat, and a full service staff available around the clock.  For reference, Kobe a player option after this year that can allow him to opt out of his contract.

To an extent, having players leave the NBA to play globally is good for the NBA brand.  Guys like Josh Childress and Nenad Kristic will assuredly spread the excitement of basketball to reaches of the world that weren’t previously attained.  However, having a guy like Kobe or LeBron depart for Europe would be incredibly damaging to the NBA.  Can you imagine the Cleveland franchise if LeBron took off for Italy or Russia to play?  How the hell would the Cavaliers justify charging upwards of $100 for tickets to see a bunch of guys who, in all likelihood, wouldn’t win 20 games during the season.  Would the Lakers draw the star power and attention that they do now without Kobe Bryant running the floor for them nightly?  Doubtful.

I’m not sure how the NBA would remedy this nor am I going to spend hours of time to figure out a way to save the NBA from the world.  However, the NBA should change their public response to their players going overseas.  Stop being so ecstatic about it and start bunkering down and keeping the factions that make your league great.

All the speculation about Hawks guard Josh Childress making a move to Greek basketball powerhouse Olympiakos was made true today after Childress inked a three year deal to ally-oop philosophy and grape leaves for $20 million, way more than he would have received on the NBA market. Being that he is a restricted free agent, the Hawks still have the opportunity to match the deal though it’s about as unlikely as Athens and Sparta getting along.

Give Childress credit for wanting to go some place where he’ll actually start and will probably have a bigger impact than he did with the Hawks. His 11.8 points were barely enough to survive the agoge, though you can bet his numbers will increase against European competition. Childress wasn’t the first to be rumored to travel to Olympiakos; Former Kings standout Chris Webber had engaged in talks to go to Olympiakos before shunning Zeus for the Detroit Pistons.

As for the Hawks, they’re now thinner than the Helot’s pockets at shooting guard. Salim Stoudemire and Acie Law are both too small to play the two, and Marvin Williams is more of a small forward. That leaves Joe Johnson as the only true shooting guard on the Hawks, with Mike Bibby running the point. Will the Hawks move on without Childress, or will they wait for him to make the trek from Marathon back to Atlanta in three years?