J.J. Barea to Play for Spain’s Estudiantes Team

J.J. Barea is heading to España.

The 36-year-old Puerto Rican professional basketball player, a former Dallas Mavericks guard, has signed a contract to play in Spain’s top division with Estudiantes, the Madrid-based club has announced.

J.J. Barea

Barea played for the Mavericks for 11 seasons, helping the team win the NBA title in 2011. The Mavericks released him in December.

 

Barea played 14 NBA seasons, including three with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and averaged 8.9 points and 3.9 assists in 831 games. 

He’s signed through the end of the season, Estudiantes said. He’s scheduled to arrive in Madrid this week to start training.

Barea told Spanish sports daily Marca in 2011 that his father’s family came from a village in northern Spain.

Veron Comes Out of Retirement & Officially Re-Signs with Estudiantes

Juan Sebastian Veron is ready to prove age is nothing but a number…

The 41-year-old Argentine retired footballer is back in the game after officially re-signing for Estudiantes de la Plata, two years after hanging up his boots.

Juan Sebastian Veron

The former Manchester United and Argentina midfielder quit playing in 2014 to become chairman of his boyhood club, having won 73 caps for his country, while he also played Chelsea, Inter Milan and Lazio.

Veron had promised to play in the 2017 Copa Libertadores if supporters bought 65 percent of the tickets for the club’s new stadium and has now made good on that pledge.

He has signed an 18-month contract, meaning he will be 43 years old when the deal expires. He will be paid a minimal salary, all of which will be “donated for the development of the club.”

His first game back in Estudiantes colors is set to be against Bayer Leverkusen in the Florida Cup on January 8 after he spent the last few months working on his fitness.

“He told us he wants to return, that from January he will return as a player,” midfielder Israel Damonte told La Oral Deportiva last month. “He will play from January for the tournament [league] and Copa [Libertadores in 2017].”

Veron won Apertura titles with Estudiantes in 2006 and 2010, and the Copa Libertadores in 2009 — his second spell with the club.

In European football, he won the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia with Parma in 1998-99, before going on to lift the Serie A and Coppa Italia double with Lazio in 1999-2000, as well as the UEFA Super Cup in 2009. He then won the Premier League with Manchester United in 2002-03 and another Italian double with Inter in 2005-06. He also won the Coppa Italia with Inter in 2004-05.