Bermuda basketball star Sullivan Philips is weighing up the possibility of a move to China after financial disagreements brought a premature end to his stay at English professional basketball team Brighton Bears.

The 25-year-old, who has been back on the Island for most of the summer visiting his widowed mother, began his career in the UK in 2003 with the Birmingham Bullets, before moving to the south coast at the behest of Bears head coach Nick Nurse.

But after a fairly successful season, which saw the Bears reach the semi-final or better of every domestic competition, Philips is hankering after a contract which he believes adequately reflects his worth to the side ? though his somewhat ?coarse? relationship with the team?s owner has made this an impossibility.

?The year in Brighton has been excellent,? said Sullivan, whose first step on the ladder towards a career in professional basketball came when he was granted a scholarship to the Garden State Academy in New Jersey.

?But the money they were offering to pay me next season I thought was a slap in the face considering the way I?d been playing and what we had achieved as a team. So now I?m looking at a variety of other options along with my agent ? but I?ve got to say my preferred choice at the moment is China.?

?The league over there is very strong,? he continued,?and pays a lot better than in Europe so I am giving very serious thought to going out there and trying it out. Basketball is not just a career for me, it is also a way to see different parts of the world and to increase my experience so at the moment it looks like an opportunity not to be missed.?

Sullivan has spent very little time in Bermuda since his college days at Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts and Colombia Union College in Washington D.C.

Born in New Orleans to a Bermudian mother, Philips came to live full time on the Island when he was ten and attended Bermuda Institute.

After impressing at college level, he was invited in 2002 to a professional camp in Utah ? an event swarming with coaches and agents ready and waiting to sort the wheat from the chaff.

?I met a lot of agents there and it was through this that I managed to go through to another camp in Spain that year,? Sullivan revealed.

?In Spain I met with Tony Garbellotto, the coach of the Birmingham Bullets and after working with him briefly, he wanted to sign me. Ever since then I?ve just been concentrating on working hard and trying to get the best deal I can. Obviously one day I dream of playing in the NBA, but at the moment I?m just taking it step by step and enjoying myself.?

Sullivan admitted however that he has only ever had intermittent contact with the Bermuda Basketball Association ? but served notice that he would be keen to represent Bermuda at the Island Games next July in Gibraltar, although the main games are to be held on the Shetland Islands.

?If I do not have any commitments with a professional side at that time of year, I would be very interested in getting involved,? he said.

?I don?t get that many opportunities to come home and help out so a chance to represent Bermuda would be great. There are certainly quite a few good athletes here who are good ball players ? though they are hindered a bit because of a lack of exposure and a structure which to be honest is pretty pathetic compared to other countries. But I?ve played a little since I?ve been back and I?d like to stay involved.?