Someday, maybe the NBA still will be there for Kyle Fogg.
But the money already is.
While most overseas basketball players toil for a third or less of the NBA minimum of $815,615 every season, the former Arizona guard has agreed to a two-year deal worth just under $2 million with Chinaβs Guangzhou Long-Lions.
According to La Opinion de Malaga, the nearly $1 million annual salary is about three times what Fogg was scheduled to earn in the second year of a contract with Unicaja of Malaga next season.
βI had a solid year but itβs just a blessing to get this amazing deal,β Fogg said by telephone from his offseason home in Southern California. βIt happened fast.β
Actually, considering that Fogg left the UA as an All-Pac-12 honoree in 2012, his professional trajectory has been a long but steady uphill climb.
Fogg was not selected in the 2012 NBA draft and wound up spending 2012-13 in the D-League, then 2013-14 in Finland, where he was named his leagueβs MVP. In 2014-15, Fogg moved on to Belgium, and in 2015-16 he played in Germany.
He signed last summer in Malaga, knowing a strong performance there in the high-level ACB of Spain might pave the way for a higher-level payoff. He said he benefited from playing exclusively point guard, while helping his team win the EuroCup by averaging 12.9 points and shooting 44 percent from 3-point range.
βOh man, it was amazing,β Fogg said of Malaga. βThe fans out there were incredible. I definitely faced some challenges out there but there were great guys and we were able to win a championship.β
Then, the payday came. A seven-figure deal to play in China.
βI am blessed β¦ something amazing is going to happen to me today,β Fogg tweeted Thursday as the news of his China contract began to surface, adding the hashtag #speakitintoexistence.
It was the kind of climb Fogg believed possible especially after hearing from his agent and one of his agentβs other clients, Errick McCollum. The older brother of NBA player C.J. McCollum, Errick found making the NBA wasnβt the only way to a successful and lucrative pro career.
βHe started off in a lower league and had to fight and earn his way up,β Fogg said. βWhen I first went to Finland, my agent said I reminded him of Eric the way I worked hard. He said if you keep working hard and have success overseas, you can have success and have a great living. Without those guys, I wouldnβt have believed it.β
As a bonus, Fogg says heβs enjoyed the chance to take in different cultures along the way, having already lived in four different countries before he gets to China.
Meanwhile, his finances have helped him become the No. 3 individual donor to Pencils for Promise, where Fogg is both a fundraiser and donor with the goal of building schools around the world in areas of need.
Fogg has donated $3,804 of his own money and raised enough funds for three schools so far, the last in Laos, with a fourth planned in Guatemala when the funds come through.
Chances are, that school will happen, too.
βItβs been amazing just getting to travel around the world and Iβm blessed to still be able to play basketball,β Fogg said. βThe NBA is always a goal but Iβm just enjoying being able to travel and help out other people.β
Rim shots
- Former UA guard Gabe York has been added to the Los Angeles Lakers summer-league team in Las Vegas after playing last season in the G-League. He will join Lakers draft picks Lonzo Ball of UCLA and Kyle Kuzma of Utah. The Lakersβ summer team will be led by Jud Buechler, a former UA player now serving as a Laker assistant. Former UA guard Miles Simon is scheduled to assist the summer-league team; he was hired by the Lakers earlier this week.
- Five-star forward Taeshon Cherry of San Diego announced via Twitter that he will play for USC in 2018-19. The St. Augustine High School star picked the Trojans over the UA, Gonzaga, San Diego State and Texas A&M.
