Media & Entertainment Law

Monday Morning Sports Law

By Rick Karcher, Michael McCann, Geoffrey Rapp, Greg Skidmore, and Howard Wasserman

* Pete Thamel of the New York Times has a really interesting piece on how Brandon Jennings--the 19-year-old American basketball star who opted to play professionally Italy while waiting to become eligible for the NBA Draft--is doing in Rome. Long story short: he, his mom, and younger brother appear to be doing great. Jennings is apparently making around a million dollars this year, after tax, between basketball and endorsement income (check out Darren Rovell's CNBC piece on Jennings' lucrative endorsement deal with Under Armour -- Jennings stands to earn more in endorsement income this year than any pick from the 2008 NBA Draft, save for the top three players selected, Michael Beasely, Derrick Rose, and O.J. Mayo). 19 years old, a million bucks to play hoops, and getting to live in luxury in Rome with his family -- Jennings' life sounds pretty good to me. Along those lines, Jennings and his family are living in a luxury apartment that is paid for by his team, Lottomatica Roma, while his brother is attending an elite private school for international students, his $20,000 a year tuition also paid for by the team.

* Pete Thamel with another interesting piece on how the NBA's age limit might lead to high school players going to Europe instead of going to college. Given Jennings' very appealing situation described above, it's not surprising to think that some players who graduate from high school in 2009 may follow him. Alan Milstein recently blogged about this same topic on Sports Law Blog.

* Robb Stokar over at Athletes Access Blog writes about Travis Henry's recent arrest on drug charges.

* I have a new column on SI.com on the implications of O.J. Simpson's guilty verdict. My thanks to Professor Mark Obbie and the Carnegie Legal Program at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Communications for their kind words about my column in their piece "O.J. Sentencing Math: SI Wins"

Full post as published by Sports Law Blog on October 06, 2008 (boomark / email).