NEW YORK - NBA players looking at other options for next season during the league's ongoing lockout received a global golden ticket on Friday when FIBA announced it will approve transfers to other leagues.

The move opens the door for such talents as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant to sign with clubs worldwide until the lockout is settled. Whether or not superstars take advantage of the opportunity is a different matter.

After all, injury insurance is the responsibility of players and not their NBA clubs, so players are at their own risk or clubs who sign superstars will be faced with a hefty insurance bill.

New Jersey Nets star Deron Williams signed with Turkey's Besiktas, but the deal allows him to opt out and return to the NBA once the lockout ends.

Sonny Weems, a free agent who played three NBA seasons, signed a one-year deal to play for Lithuania's Zalgiris Kaunas rather than risk the NBA losing an entire season. As a free agent he would not face a recall to an NBA club.

NBA club owners locked out the players on July 1 after their bargaining agreement expired, claiming only eight of 30 teams are profitable and salary cuts are needed in order to sustain the league.

Players want to avoid a tight salary cap, hoping to maintain the exceptions that allow clubs to overspend to try and avoid losing top talent to rivals, and other cutbacks.

The NBA players union said it would fight any move by FIBA or the NBA to limit the ability of players to play for other clubs when the NBA is shut down.

FIBA's approval does require that players sign a declaration that they will return to their NBA club once the lockout is over.

"As the world governing body for basketball, we strongly hope that the labor dispute will be resolved as soon as possible and that the NBA season is able to begin as scheduled," FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann said.

The NBA has already scheduled a Nov 1 season opener with training camps set to open about one month before that. But unlike the NFL lockout that ended this week, which saw both sides trying to divide $9.3 billion in revenues from the most popular American spectator sport, the NBA conflict finds owners pleading poverty and players saying the owners need to solve their problems without taking money from players' pockets.

The NBA is already seeking an owner for the league-operated New Orleans Hornets during the economic downturn, which helped push owners into sparking the first NBA shutdown since the 1998-99 season was cut from 82 to 50 games.

The US team in the Pan American Games later this year will rely on talent from the NBA's developmental league while the Americans are exempt from qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics, having already booked their spot by winning last year's World Championship with NBA talent.

Non-US talent from the NBA will in most cases compete on national teams in Olympic qualifying during the offseason despite the NBA lockout.

"We are delighted to see that, in spite of widespread doubts related to the lockout, national teams competing in this summer's Olympic qualifiers will be able to count on the participation of most of their NBA stars," Baumann said.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 07/31/2011 page7)