The NBA reportedly looking to expand to big European markets / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Reuters – Scanpix Credit Reuters – Scanpix

The birth of the European division of the NBA, with the first conversations between FIBA and the league led by Adam Silver, begins to take shape, Spanish newspaper MARCA reports.Per MARCA, the first move that NBA commissioner Adam Silver wants to make is to populate two cities vital to his interests in Europe, such as London and Paris.

London is the strategic headquarters of the NBA in Europe, but it does not have a EuroLeague team.

Paris is a decisive market but also lacks an important club on the European level (Metropolitans 92 compete in the EuroCup, Paris Basket were recently promoted to the first division).

Those cities are considered two basic pillars for the future of a potential NBA Europe that dreams of uniting Madrid, Barcelona, Moscow, Kaunas, Tel Aviv, Belgrade, Athens, and many other cities.In addition, the NBA seems willing to bring some of its culture surrounding the games to Europe. That involves the installations, the arenas, as well as leisure facilities like bars, restaurants, and shops.

In this vein, the idea of playing an All-Star Game between a team of NBA players and a team formed by the Rest of the World could take effect. It's a formula that has already been used in the NBA Rising Stars Challenge, and that has already been rumored on other occasions.

According to EuroHoops, FIBA confirms that, following an invitation to the President and CEO of EuroLeague Basketball Jordi Bertomeu and also to the shareholders of ECA, a meeting was held in mid-September to discuss the unification of European Basketball. The NBA was also invited and participated in the meeting.

Yesterday, the American league issued the following statement on the issue:

“The NBA has a long relationship with FIBA ​​in growing basketball around the world through initiatives such as Basketball Without Borders and Basketball Africa League (BAL). We have also played several preseason games against Euroleague teams throughout the years.

As part of our ongoing collaboration with both stakeholders, we were recently invited to participate in discussions on how we can work together to grow basketball in Europe. We look forward to participating in further conversations in the future.“

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