Danny Ferry’s Move Ranks Him With Soccer Stars in Italy
The Ferry tale is now for all the world to know, the story of the star-in-waiting who turned his back on the mighty National Basketball Assn. and bolted to Italy, a move heralded in Europe as if it were, well, soccer or something.
Danny Ferry, today a Clipper by technicality only, will not leave for Europe until mid-August, putting him about two weeks behind teammates on Messaggero Rome in practice, but that doesn’t figure to dull the excitement of his arrival. If 3,000 people waited at a hotel in Pesaro Tuesday night to welcome Darwin Cook, newest member of Scavolini, what does that say for the interest in Ferry?
“Rome is a big town and has two teams in the major league of soccer,” said Luciano Murgia, a prominent Italian sportswriter and announcer. “But the basketball arena seats about 17,000 persons, and I think when they play games they will always have a full arena because of Ferry.”
Wednesday’s newspaper headlines responded in kind.
“The Coup of the Summer: Ferry, the ‘New Bird’ to Rome,” La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote.
“Danny Boy to Messaggero for a Record Sum,” Corriere dello Sport reported.
“Roma Finds a Star,” said Il Messaggero, the newspaper that sponsors Ferry’s team.
Opinion wasn’t as unanimous about Ferry’s salary. The news agency ANSA put it at $1 million, but, according to a source close to Ferry, that figure is very conservative. Others say the number pushes $2 million, which puts Ferry among the highest-paid athletes in the country, trailing only such soccer stars as Diego Maradona, who makes between $3 million and $5 million in base pay and endorsements.
The contract itself is unique in that it has no escape clause for this season, which begins Sept. 24 in Italy and Nov. 3 in the NBA, but does have the potential to become a multiyear deal if Ferry chooses. He holds the option for subsequent years and could simply roll it over with pay raises.
The Clippers, who made the former Duke star the No. 2 pick in the draft June 27, dispute talk that Ferry’s choice was a power play to force an eventual trade to another NBA team. General Manager Elgin Baylor claims the club never had any indication that the two-time player of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference had a problem with coming to the Clippers, and he still insists Ferry does not have any bad feelings toward the club. It simply was too good an offer to pass up, Baylor said.
“It really wasn’t a very big surprise that he signed,” Baylor said. “We knew that there were serious negotiations.
“I thought it might happen, (but) later on down the line. We made every attempt to try and get the player here, to sign him. I was surprised it happened that soon, that quickly.”
Other NBA teams, also aware in recent days of the increasing possibility of Ferry’s jumping to Italy, tried to benefit from the Clippers’ problem. Trade offers continued, but the Clippers never found any to their liking. The most prominent rumor had Ferry going to Miami for a future first-round pick and Kevin Edwards, a guard from DePaul.
But teams that were hoping to benefit from something of a fire sale were turned away and, for now at least, Ferry remains Clipper property. To become a free agent in the United States, he would have to sit out an entire season after playing in Italy. But the Clippers don’t see it coming to that.
“The door isn’t shut,” Baylor said. “Danny has a one-year commitment there, and then we’ll proceed to get him in a Clipper uniform next year.”
In the meantime, the Clippers have other business to attend to. Free agents Benoit Benjamin and Tom Garrick need to be signed. Jeff Martin and Jay Edwards, the second-rounders, need to be signed. Ken Norman, about to start the final season in a three-year contract, will be offered an extension and raise. Life goes on for the team that seems to be without an off-season.
Meanwhile, the Italians are ready for the next move, a pretty good follow-up to the Ferry signing at that.
Does Signor Pooh Richardson have a nice ring?
Messaggero Rome will now go after the former UCLA point guard, the first-round draft choice of the expansion franchise Minnesota Timberwolves. No contract has been offered, but plans are being set for a meeting between Richardson, who could not be reached for comment, and Rome team officials.
Should the Timberwolves, who made Richardson the No. 10 pick overall, be worried?
Considering Ferry’s move, can they afford not to be?
