A few teams, including Memphis, had been discussed as potential landing spots for Iranian center Hamed Ehadadi. Political circumstance makes his prospective transfer to the NBA difficult. In fact, according to Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski, politics may have made it impossible.[T]he league office has sent a letter to its 30 teams instructing that they are forbidden to even discuss a contract with Ehadadi, Yahoo! Sports has learned.Wojnarowski goes on to note Ehadadi isn't even that great a prospect; as such, it seems unlikely any team will going hopping through hoops to get government permission to bring him over.
In the letter, which was sent Friday, NBA legal counsel wrote: "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. We have been advised that a federal statute prohibits a person or organization in the United States from engaging in business dealings with Iranian nationals."
For a while, it looked as if the 2008-09 season could feature both the NBA's first Iranian player and first Israeli. Apparently, it will be neither. (Yotam Halperin has signed with Olympiakos, Lior Eliyahu remains without a European contract but isn't expected to be signed by Houston, his NBA rights-holder.)
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Haddadi's story proves the baselessness of the White House allegations that the US is a friend of Iranian people and an enemy of the Islamic Republic government as it shows US animosity towards the ordinary Iranian people.