Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

7/7/2010 at 12:28pm

NBA free agency hoopla is certainly heating up and former UALR player Derek Fisher is becoming an increasingly important conversation topic, as the signing period begins tomorrow.

Fisher isn’t terribly worried about timeliness, especially since he is in China representing the NBA at the World Expo in Shanghai. Fisher has been supporting the efforts of the USA Pavilion at the expo and made bold statements about what his future could hold—the Arkansas native could wind up playing in China.

China Daily reports:

After visiting the Shanghai World Expo, the 35-year-old point guard, who helped the Los Angeles Lakers defend their NBA title last month, said he was thoroughly enjoying his first tour of China and appeared open to the idea when asked if the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) could be an option for him when he ends his career in the US.

"To be frank, I have never been asked this question before. But you never know in life and I think you always have to be open, following the path that life puts you on sometimes," Fisher told reporters in Beijing, Taipei, Tokyo, Bangkok, Manila, Singapore and Colombo during a Cisco-supported video conference.

"And if that answer has anything to do with my first experience in China, then I can tell you I have really enjoyed the stay here and it would be a lot of fun to do it (play in the CBA)."

After winning back-to-back championships with Los Angeles, the Lakers are hoping to reel in Fisher for at least one more season to make a run at another three-peat. With Coach Phil Jackson returning, the Lakers believe that securing their locker room leader is the missing piece to a title run.

As of late, reports have revealed that the Lakers are only offering a contract worth half of what Fisher wants, but for all we know he could be suiting up for Shanghai next season.