London Lions will honour Sam Dekker’s contract

Sam Dekker, who has spent the last two seasons with the London Lions, will remain on the books of Super League Basketball club. A video posted by Olivia Harlan Dekker, Sam’s wife, confirmed the club, now owned by Zalgiris/Tesonet will honour the remaining two years of his contract. Dekker’s future however may be playing elsewhere on loan.

Everything with the London Lions of late has been a bit wild. This site ended up breaking the beginning of the Zalgiris/Tesonet story because of a Companies House filing. This is strange as this is not really a news site. Then Frank Dalleres in CityAM broke the many twists and turns in the story in far more detail. Now, the new source for London Lions news is the wife of its best known player.

Olivia Harlan Dekker, an accomplished broadcaster in her own right, revealed on her YouTube channel that Sam Dekker, her husband, would have the remaining two years of his lucrative contract honoured by the new ownership.

The big update

The confirmation came from a blog on Olivia Harlan Dekker’s YouTube channel. She confirmed that Sam Dekker would have the remaining two years on his contract honoured by the new owners of the London Lions.

“We spent so much time stressing about this but, the other day, we got incredible news. The team is going to honour the next two years on Sam’s contract, that was made by the previous ownership,” Olivia Harlan Dekker said.

“We spent a good bit of the summer stressing. We went through different scenarios. Some of these involved Sam would living on a different side of the world while Wolfie [their son] and me lived in London, because my job is there.”

Watch the full video here:

An emotional process

The human side of players moves and contract questions often gets overlooked in coverage. Sam Dekker is, to most people, just a basketball player and Zalgiris/Tesonet now have his contract. He is, like all of us, more than that. He’s got a son with his wife, Olivia, who has her own career as well.

“I was sitting here in absolute tears because of all the turmoil and confusion going on with my husband’s team. This summer we found out there would be a change in ownership. This was not good news for anyone who had an outstanding contract, which was us,” Olivia Harlan Dekker said.

“I had found a job in London. Our two year old son has spent most of his life in London. We have an apartment there, a great nanny, and friends. Everything about our life feels cemented in London.”

BallinEurope is ramping up its YouTube game this season. Subscribe to our channel now for player exclusives, analysis videos, and much more.

Contract concerns

Sam Dekker’s contract being in the UK was a key piece in this story. The regulations around the transfer of undertakings, known as TUPE, are quite clear. When employees are moved to a different employer as part of a merger or sale of a business, there are strict protections.

While a strong form of protection, the Dekker family was concerned about the process with Zalgiris and Tesonet.

“We were worried we would have to fight them on this, to fight for money from last spring. That would have sucked because we have loved being part of this team and this project of growing basketball in the UK,” Olivia Harlan Dekker said.

“We saw so much progress and we had genuine goals that were aligned with the team. I can now sit here today and say that we are going to London.”

BallinEurope has a book, a real life actual book called I Like it Loud, and you can buy it on Amazon now. It’s here as a book and here in Kindle form.

Sam Dekker might not play in London

While Sam Dekker is certain to have his contract honoured by the London Lions, there’s no guarantee he’ll be playing basketball for them.

“There’s some confusion over the salary cap and if Sam will be playing for the Lions this year. He may have to be loaned out. That’s not my thing to talk about so I’m not going to. I just know that the Lions are doing right by Sam, right by us, and we still get to go to London,” Olivia Harlan Dekker said in the video.

That makes a lot of sense considering the new format of Super League Basketball. The salary cap the new league will have still remains to be announced. It is likely to be low. It’s certain to one that will make a contract like Dekker’s onerous to say the least.

There are options for Zalgiris and Tesonet here. A transfer to Zalgiris, putting his salary on their books, followed by a loan back to London is one option. That seems unlikely given how Olivia Harlan Dekker phrased her comments in the YouTube video. She seemed to expect him to remain an employee of London Lions.

That would mean the most probable outcome is that Dekker will get loaned to a club elsewhere in Europe with the means to cover part or all of his salary. That could erase that hit on the salary cap of the London Lions and enable the Dekkers to remain based out of the city.

Aug 30, 2024Emmet Ryan

Powered by Sidelines