by Tzvi Twersky | @TTwersky
After leaving the Miami heat midway through last season due to family issues, it appears that the NBA door has closed for Rafer Alston.
An ocean away, another door, a much smaller door, has opened.
According to NiuBBall, a friend of SLAM who’s currently residing in China, two separate Chinese teams are interested in the 34-year-old’s services:
If you’ve been staying up with the blog, you’ve done known that Skip is coming to China to train with the Zhejiang Guangshua Lions, one of the many teams vying to acquire the 11-year NBA point-guard. According to the Qingdao Evening Newspaper, he’s all set for Chinese lay-up lines in southern China on the 18th.
Alston in Zhejiang would presumably give them the inside track, but he that may not be the case after all. The same article is reporting that Alston, despite agreeing to come to Zhejiang, personally reached out to Qingdao Double Star two weeks ago and the two sides have mutual interest in each other. If a deal is reached, Skip will sign an agreement with Double Star similar to Stephon Marbury’s with Shanxi Zhongyu that would include opportunities on the business side of the basketball in addition to an annual salary.
Revered in the Far East for his past streetball exploits, Rafer “Skip To My Lou” Alston hopes to add a few last highlights to his reel and dollars to his pocket before calling it a career.
